James Wesley Rawles is an internationally recognized authority on family disaster preparedness and survivalism. He is an American author of survivalist fiction and non-fiction books, and is best known for his "Coming Collapse" (aka Patriots) series. Rawles has been a survivalist since he was a teenager, and his writing reflects his years of experience and knowledge in the field.
Rawles was born in California in 1960 and attended local public schools. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from San Jose State University. From 1984 to 1993, he served as a United States Army Military Intelligence officer, eventually resigning his commission as a U.S. Army Captain. After leaving the military, Rawles worked as an Associate Editor and Regional Editor with Defense Electronics magazine, as well as a technical writer for various electronics and software companies. In 2005, he began blogging full-time and has since become a leading voice in the survivalist community.
Rawles is a Constitutionalist Christian libertarian, and his preparedness philosophy emphasizes the importance of food storage, being well-armed, and maintaining a "deep larder." He is an outspoken proponent of family preparedness and encourages relocation to rural "retreat" areas. Rawles is also a spokeman for the survivalist movement and has been described by journalists as the "conscience of survivalism." He is a vocal advocate for the individual rights of citizens to bear arms and is opposed to racism and modern slavery.
Rawles is the founder and Senior Editor of SurvivalBlog.com, which covers survival and preparedness topics. He has also published two books collecting material from his blog. In addition to his writing, Rawles works as a survival retreat consultant and is a rancher. He and his family live at a remote self-sufficient ranch surrounded by National Forest lands, which is cryptically identified as located "somewhere west of the Rockies." Rawles' books have been translated into seven languages and he is a sought-after lecturer on survivalism and preparedness.