The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It [Hardcover]

John Seymour (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 2003

The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the only book that teaches all the skills needed to live independently in harmony with the land harnessing natural forms of energy, raising crops and keeping livestock, preserving foodstuffs, making beer and wine, basketry, carpentry, weaving, and much more. This new edition includes 150 new full color illustrations and a special section in which John Seymour the father of the back to basics movement explains the philosophy of self-sufficiency and its power to transform lives and create communities. More relevant than ever in our high-tech world, The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the ultimate practical guide for realists and dreamers alike.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"John Seymour, self-sufficiency guru, offers a wealth of ideas to get you started." -- Sentinel

"This book ... will appeal to those seeking simpler and environmentally responsible ways of living ..." -- Library Journal

About the Author

John Seymour is the author of over 40 books, including The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency, The Forgotten Arts and Crafts, and has made numerous movies and radio programs devoted to rural matters, self-sufficiency, and the environment.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT; 1st edition (March 17, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789493322
• ISBN-13: 978-0789493323
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

552 of 557 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How to get back to the land..., November 8, 2003

By 

Daniel L Edelen (Mt. Orab, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It (Hardcover)

As a family that has abandoned the city and suburbs for the countryside, the very presence of a book like John Seymour's "The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It" is enough to inspire fits of joy. A perfect companion to works like Hemenway's "Gaia's Garden" and Mollison's "Permaculture: A Designer's Manual," this book is a must for would-be urbanites fleeing the cities. Covering every topic relevant to self-sufficient, sustainable living and farm life, Seymour's classic provides a great way to start a different life. An update from the venerable mid-Seventies edition of the book, this 2002 release is a fine improvement.

The book has quite a bit going for it:

1. Beautifully made, illustrated and laid-out, this book is meant to last and be used readily and often. Typical Dorling Kindersley quality.

2. An eye-friendly typeface and bright, semi-gloss pages make this easy reading.

3. The shear breadth of the information here is outstanding. Packed into 306 letter-sized pages are the following chapters:
*The Meaning of Self-Sufficiency
*Food from the Garden
*Food from Animals
*Food from the Fields
*Food from the Wild
*In the Dairy
*In the Kitchen
*Brewing & Wine-making
*Energy & Waste
*Crafts & Skills
*Things You Need to Know

4. Good specifics on all the categories of info listed above. You should be able to get started on your way to being people of the soil. Need to know how to kill, gut, and prepare your cattle? It's in here. Got a hankering to get off the electrical grid altogether? Helpful windmill buying advice is here. Can't tell rye from barley? You will after reading this book.

5. A helpful list of contacts and companies that can get you started on your dream are included.

But there are issues amid all this helpful advice:

1. The book makes some references to US-specific qualifiers on info, but it is quintessentially British. Some of the very helpful info simply does not apply to American would-be farmers.

2. There's a lot of the "green" credo here. Some of it is a bit condescending to anyone who doesn't share the author's opinions of life outside the farm. How well the reader handles this is up to the reader.

3. While the book is certainly comprehensive, considering how complex a shift from urban to rural living can be, it could have gone even deeper. (I know that I still had questions.) The book probably could have been twice its length and would still be a bargain.

4. Much of the advice here comes from a lone methodology for approaching self-sufficiency. Despite the update, there are some more cutting edge permaculture methods that can be more satisfying than what we find in Seymour's book.

All in all, despite the cons, this is a fine primer on self-sufficiency. Anyone looking to escape the rat race could hardly do better than to pick up a copy of "The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It."

196 of 197 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Duplication, October 16, 2005

By 

Big Italian (Alabama) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It (Hardcover)

The book is very good. The information is extremely usefull. All potential customers shoud however know that "The Sel-Sufficient Life, and How To Live It" is identical to the book"The New complete book of Self Sufficiency" by the same author. While I would highly recomend this book do not order both books. Except for a few words changed in the intro and the preface the books are the same, page for page and chapter for chapter.

166 of 169 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrific; virtually all-encompassing, August 8, 2003

By 

Coolwetplace "reader4031" (Madison, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It (Hardcover)

This is a great book with great illustrations ... Simple yet detailled, practical yet principled. John Seymour has got a great good grasp of the ecological principles that SHOULD inform gardening and farming (what comes out must go back in).

In his other writings, Jonathan Seymour has a streak of anti-urbanism that I don't like--I don't share his view that cities are unnatural, diseased places. But he seems to have overcome it here with a description of urban gardens, limited-scale self-sufficiency and the like. This book lets you pick and choose; if you want to grow wheat on five acres, harrow, harvest, thresh and grind it yourself, that's fine. On the other hand, if you live on a half-acre lot and just want to set up a backyard garden, a compost pile and maybe a beehive, this book will also show you how.