RaveThe Literary ReviewA few of Flyn’s destinations are firmly established on the dubious ruin-tourism trail...But she also visits unfamiliar places ... Her account of her journey to Swona is among the most haunting in this memorable book ... Modern nature writing has evolved to be a little more tough-nosed than it was in the days of Evelyn Waugh’s feather-footed questing vole, but it can still be blighted by a self-conscious high style. Flyn, a journalist, thankfully keeps a tight rein on this, writing taut and interesting descriptions of the places she visits, deploying artful images and unobtrusive wit. The arsenal of facts and figures is well targeted. Only at the end of each chapter does the high style creep in. Sentences shorten. Swallows wheel. The page turns. But it’s kept to nontoxic levels ... gives us grounds for hope, while not understating the huge task that awaits us in changing course away from catastrophe ... This is a fresh, provocative and valuable book.
Bradley Garrett
PositiveLiterary Review (UK)Garrett is a bright and buoyant guide and Bunker rattles briskly along. And he’s scrupulously fair to his subjects, mostly letting them speak for themselves. Indeed, a weakness of the book is that it is too fair to them. Fundamentally, prepping is a bleak and unpleasant philosophy. It might seem like a form of responsible cautiousness, but really it’s a bet against the rest of us ... Some of them appear to be egging the apocalypse on, eager for their underground investments to pay off. Given that, it’s deeply troubling to learn that many of the world’s richest people have a sideline in prepping, getting their off-grid doomsteads in New Zealand ready. But that’s what makes Bunker a necessary read—we should be keeping tabs on what they’re up to.