I did a review for a book recently that at least partially addresses this thread:
http://forum.survivaluk.net/showthread.php?tid=7396
"Easy to read, popular science book, it is written for the survivor of a catastrophe who has made it through the initial crash, and is now with some others or alone, but is enjoying the "grace period" on scavenged or stored supplies before having to truly start from scratch. Dartnell proceeds to break down and explain critical areas to start work at rebuilding a reasonably advanced civilization (by reasonably advanced I mean gunpowder and printing press level.) Each of these areas is a project that could be attempted by any reasonably competent prepper, e.g. making lime, or extracting potassium nitrate from soil."
Lets take an OTT worst case scenario, just before a very bad winter, total nuclear war breaks out between the major global powers, most nations (EMP included so power grid and some vehicles and electronic gear destroyed) along with a bioweapons release, something like Spanish flu again...
When spring arrives, focusing on the UK, most areas will just be empty of humans, with the resources left over from civilisation simply decaying without providing the "grace period" that Dartnell talks about (e.g. being able to scavenge fuel, generators, food etc.)
The scattered survivors are a mix of the prepared, the lucky and the predatory gangs (the lines being blurred depending on the group or individual.) Each group/individual will then be either settled farmer, a hunter-gatherer, sitting on an enormous but dwindling stock of supplies or somewhere in between.
Most of us will never be prepared for the scenario I just to described; it's like opening a submarine hatch 1000 meters below sea level, there's just too many things to cover.
I had a conversation with a family friend from London, explaining how I was was interested in agriculture and self sufficiency without breaking OPSEC. She seemed to think I wanted to live naked in a cave with no outside resources, saying "But you can't make books or tools" as if she'd discovered a massive flaw in my direction in life. The totally self sufficient lifestyle of hunting and gathering as a small band has it merits, but it leaves no history to read, and we'll never colonise space that way...
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