Ok, I'd say that while Les Stroud's Survive! is a great stand-alone book it's even better as a complement to the classic survival manuals - like the SAS Handbook by Lofty Wiseman, which is still pretty much the benchmark by which all other survival books are judged.

Most survival manuals follow the same line - a collection of techniques structured into a number of chapters. More often than not, there is very little in-depth discussion on the pros and cons of a particular technique. The reader is usually given a bewildering number of options to address a potential problem (building shelter, fire, finding water etc.). The problem is, the descriptions tend to be too brief. An inexperienced reader has a hard time deciding which technique to pick. And because the instructions are not really detailed enough an inexperienced outdoorsman will have a hard time making the theory work in the bush.

Les takes a different approach. "Less is more" - he basically gives you a few options but lets you know which one is foolproof and which one is more of a last-ditch measure. A lot of survival handbooks make some techniques look easy, for instance catching big game or operating a solar still. Well, Les takes a more critical look and always gives you a rough idea as to what kind of results you should realistically expect from a particular method.

Another case in point: plenty of survival experts write how to make a bow and arrows. Les is pretty direct (and spot on in my experience) how making a decent bow in the bush is a challenging task even for a skilled craftsman, let alone an amateur in a survival situation. Instead of wasting time on hunting big game with improvised weapons (which would be seriously cool to read about but impossible to put into practice for most of us) Les takes a more down to Earth approach and shows you a few simple, reliable ways to procure food. Like a few basic traps - not dozens of different designs that are a pain to build, just a few ones that really work. Plus a brief list of wild edibles commonly found in various climates and so on, you get the idea.

Does Les break any totally new ground with his book? Not really, pretty much all of it has been around for a while. But never in that kind of package. Any way I look at Survive! it's an original work. Definitely no rip-off reprint but the work of one man based on his hard-won experience.

Some of the advice (like it's ok to eat snow as long as you're working) may seem controversial but there's always a good explanation. What really makes the difference is the way Les presents his stuff - always keen to point out what works, what doesn't and where you are most likely to run into a problem. I believe that alone makes the book worth buying even if you have a fair bit of experience already. Whether that's a good enough reason to spend your money on the book is up to you but you should definitely at least take a look at it if you see a copy in the bookstore.