When disaster strikes, survival isn’t just about strength or luck—it’s about the brain. In Surviving Survival, Laurence Gonzales, award-winning journalist and researcher, unravels the astonishing science behind why some people emerge from life-shattering ordeals stronger, while others collapse under the weight of trauma. Gonzales doesn’t just write stories—he dissects them with neuroscience, psychology, and hard evidence. He has spent decades studying survival, interviewing plane crash survivors, soldiers, climbers, shark attack victims, and disaster experts, weaving together case studies with cutting-edge brain science.

Here’s the jaw-dropping truth: over 70% of people who survive a life-threatening event will develop some form of post-traumatic stress. But Gonzales shows that trauma isn’t the end of the story—it rewires the brain, reshapes decision-making, and can even unlock hidden resilience. The human brain is a survival machine, built with ancient instincts that can betray us—or save us.

From the miracle of survivors walking barefoot out of burning jungles, to the devastating reality of those who seemed safe but never recovered, Surviving Survival isn’t about the moment of crisis. It’s about what happens after—the long war inside the mind. Gonzales reveals the shocking neuroscience of memory, stress hormones, and decision-making, proving that recovery isn’t willpower—it’s biology, retraining the very circuits of the brain.

This isn’t just a book about survival. It’s about transformation. Once you understand how the brain responds to catastrophe, you’ll never look at your own choices—or your own resilience—the same way again.