I have recently been made aware of the survival uses of cattails.  Does anyone know of a book that documents the extensive uses of cattails as a food source?

I don't know about a dedicated book on cattails, but I can send you a few PDF articles if you PM me your email address

Cattails do have uses, mostly as a starch substitute. Roofing, shelter. As a food Let me tell you it is far from ideal. So much work for what you get, also tastes like dirty hippy bush twat.

I thought the American Indians ate it.

They did but they also ate acorns.

Acorns, along with cattails, are good when you prepare them correctly.

That goes for a bunch of your "normal" food, too. Go grab a green bean off the vine and eat it. It's pretty nasty.

Problem with cattails is they have a very narrow band of time for harvest for the different parts. Then again, that same thing applies to a lot of the veggies we love.

OP, I don't know of any book dedicated to the cattail. The uses for the plant go from food to medicine to raw manufacturing material. So, you'll likely do best by getting some books on wild edible plants, and medicine and some on aboriginal building skills. Mostly Eastern Woodland Indians would be  the ones to look for.

I'd be in for those PDFs if the offer still stands.

I can't seem to find it, but I seem to recall an article about the US had plans to cultivate cattails for starch if WW2 would have continued beyond 1945, due to the high starch yield of the plant.