Customer Reviews

Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills (Second Edition)

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(1)
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A primer on self-reliance and rural skills, this is a large-format book of 456 pages lavishly illustrated with photographs and drawings, about half in full color. Here are 57 subjects, many with subsets, as in gardening, which includes information on soil, cultivation methods, making and using a greenhouse, and specific information on many veggies, herbs, fruits. Some presentations are simplistic, like telling you how to find and evaluate a farm or can produce in only four pages. Building and using a smokehouse gets one page. Using dairy products butters ten pages. Woodworking and furniture making nail down thirty pages. Build and decorate a house and the chairs, tables, beds to furnish it. Build a springhouse, a dam, a well, a water system. Grow vegetables, fruits, grains. Raise bees, fish, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, hogs, sheep, goats, cows, horses. Make cheese, maple syrup, beer, wine, bread, soap, candles, baskets. Cook with wood. Spin yarn, use natural dyes, make cloth, quilts, rugs, hammocks. Learn tanning and leather work, tinsmithing, blacksmithing, toolmaking. Celebrate harvest and holidays with traditional decorations, recipes, toys, games, dances. Learn camping, hiking, fishing, canoeing, snowshoeing, skiing. Whew! This book will keep you happily occupied for several decades.

i was given this book over 15 years ago. it has become my "bible" for basic skills. we refer to this book at least once a week for advice and instruction - and always manage to find what we're looking for! it does more than touch on subjects! you get in-depth instructions with pictures to guide you through such things as building a foundation and canning your own garden goods. my copy is well-worn from much use! i treasure this book and all the things i've learned from it. for those out there who wish to live more self-sufficiently, you must have this book.

This book touches on so many practical skills, it's terrific! You'll learn everything from soap making to building your own rough-hewn cabin by hand -- and what to look for when picking the best site for your homestead. There's something for everyone.

This was a really interesting book and I got a whole more than I expected. This book covers all kinds of traditional skills from chopping wood, building houses, plowing fields, food preparation, and so on. Just about anything you can imagine on everyday life skills from days long gone.

The bonus part to this was that it included a lot of modern day adaptations and applications for these skills. It could be a useful how-to manual for those that want to live a more simple life. It also includes a description of alternate eco-friendly fuel sources

My grandparents owned the first edition of this book years ago and I read it almost every time I was over at their house. When I saw it was updated, I bought my own copy. This is a how-to tome par excellence! In these pages you can learn to go far toward practical self sufficiency. Just about anything and everything you could ever seek to know regarding hands-on survival skills is explained inside this book. It's useful information for everyday life and a potential lifesaver in times of crisis. In here you can learn how to start fires under any weather conditions, make your own shoes from scratch, build furniture, houses, boats, find out how to raise animals, grow gardens and survive diasters. I feel more confident in my ability to get by in almost any situation than I did before I re-discovered this pragmatic classic. Knowledge, as they say, is power.

Not a step-by step guide, but usually has enough info on a particular subject to get you started. Some topic are covered in detail, like making braided rugs, while others understandably are only given a cursory review, such as building construction.

Tons of topics, with enough info to get you headed in the right direction for most, but you'll obviously want to get more detailed info on any of the more complex tasks they descibe.

I purchased several books on country living, this one is the best of the lot. I wanted a good reference book for a story I am writing. This book covers everything I was interested in, and more, providing me with a wealth of information and ideas. Along with being well written, the book is also filled with detailed illustrations and photos.

I borrowed this book from a friend and became so attached I had to buy a copy for myself. If my home burns down tonight this would be one of the first books I would replace, the first being my Bible. I have put this book to use many times and plan to build a slipform stone house.

My husband has done nothing but talk of this book "Back to Basics" that he used to have and can not find. When I came online and put in the title of this book in "Search", it was to my greatest pleasure to find out that this book was still in production and that I was able to go to Borders to purchase it for him. I now realize why he enjoys this book so much. It has everything you need to know to survive in the "wilderness". We do a lot of camping and hiking with our two younger boys and grandchildren. The two boys love the idea of being able to build their own shelters out of woods and leaves. It is not a book that most parents would get for their children, but I feel that with the world in so much turmoil, that getting "back to basics" is just what our children need. Thank you "Reader Digest" for such a magnificent book.

I bought my copy when this was a "new book" offered by Reeder's Digest book club. That was almost thirty years ago and I still pull it out for reference on a regular basis. The information contained in it is not step-by-step "how to" type instruction but rather just enough for the independent minded with a bit of machanical ability, common sense and willingness to be able to florish with the minimum of modern "necesities." While not leading you every step of the way it will instead get you to think in a way that allows you to succeed in the best way for your own situation.
If you have a desire to re-discover the old ways that sustained our ancestors for centuries, to be able to provide for your family even under adverse conditions or simply to get the satisfaction of doing it yourself, this is THE book. While mine was much cheaper in 1982, the present price - while unbeleivable when I saw it - is worth every penny, particularly in the present economic times when many things are uncertian and a fast food sandwhich can cost five dollars!
I have a lot of books on the same type material. Some are more detailed but less broad. Others try to cover more ground but lack enough instruction. Back To Basics is the perfect combination. This is my "go to" reference even after more than twenty-six years. All of this and more is available today on the internet, but the internet is not always there for us! Something as simple as a thunder storm or possibly something more severe can cut you off from that source at anytime. This book can sustain you and your family.