First of all, this book is not what I consider an encyclopedia. It does contain an index and brief glossary, but it is organized into chapters, individual sections, categories, and subcategories, rather than an alphabetical series of topics. Considering the wealth of information the author tried to cover, I understand why it was organized in this manner, but it does not necessarily make the book more convenient. A very well-designed and inclusive index would have nullified this problem, but the index is not quite adequate.
Each chapter is denoted with a broad header (i.e., "The Basics") and then broken down into broad topics, each given an individual title (i.e., "Modern Convenience and Electricity"), but at that point the topics are further broken down into categories and subcategories using a question and answer format. I would much have preferred simple titles for each topic and subtopic, which would have made skimming a section much easier. Use of the index could nullify that problem, but I found the question and answer format irritating to read and somewhat inconvenient.
As other reviewers have said, there is no fluff in this text. It contains only the most essential information on each topic and each subtopic has been paired down to the most simplistic information possible, making much of the information useless as a reference guide. I appreciate the sheer amount of research that must have gone into preparing a text that attempts to cover hundreds of topics and present readers with the most important information for each one, but there are simply too many broad categories and not enough real information. The sparse coverage of each topic, which is, again, understandable considering the number of topics presented, leaves the reader looking for more information and, very often rereading the same passages multiple times in attempt to glean something else from the text.
Some topics are so brief it's startling. In five paragraphs the author takes readers form information on general fabric terminology to patching clothing, types of patches and then into a single paragraph on crochet and knit-work . . . which are described as "two different but similar ways of knotting yarn to make a variety of useful items." No examples of what items are often knitted is mentioned, nor how it might best be applied to homesteading or even how to go about learning to knit! Included pictures show a type of crochet work and how to "cast on" knitting needles, but without any additional information, such as basic knit and purl stitches and binding off, how would a novice use this information at all? Given that it's completely inadequate for learning, it might as well have been left out altogether. The next paragraph abruptly takes the reader into a discussion of leather and tanning hides and that information is presented right alongside three large detail-photos of the steps to the mentioned cast-on, which is puzzling and incongruous. In contrast, two full pages are used for information on various quilt patterns, their descriptions and how to create them, along with an illustration and two large photographs.
So, while other reviews have contained references to the beautiful full-color photographs contained in the text, I'm not sure they're valuable at all. I appreciate the glossy pages and the photographs, but found many of them awkwardly placed and often inappropriate to the immediate text. For example, a photograph denoted as "clean honeycomb and honey" shows honeycomb on a white plate; it is placed at the top of a page containing information on diseases and pests that plague beehives. A quick glance through the preceding pages reveals there is no topic or information immediately visible on "cleaning honeycomb." Many pictures do not have included notations at all. A picture of a small flock of ducks, for example, is placed on a page discussing chickens and chicks, and no mention of the photographs contents is included. Later, when discussing food preservation methods, a photo of a large basket of tomatoes is labeled "Sun-drying tomatoes," but no information is included for how to sun-dry tomatoes; the following page contains information on sun-drying jerky, using a smoking method, but I've never heard of that method being applied to tomatoes and the author has certainly made no mention of it being applied to other food groups. A picture of hides being dried on rocks is placed with information on making hard-soled moccasins, but information on how to tan hides was included four-pages back with no accompanying photograph and there is a useless sketch of a "moccasin pattern," but no photograph of a completed pair of moccasins until the reader turns the page, where a blurry, useless-as-a-reference photo of a traditional Native American's moccasin is shown, rather than the type of moccasins homesteaders today would be making for themselves.
It is also painfully obvious that stock photography was used. The photos have no cohesion at all, ranging from individual objects, like an old wooden spinning wheel photographed on a transparent (white) background to numerous candid-type photos of the same flock of chickens and a sepia-toned vintage photograph of a man plowing his fields with a pair of draft horses. Other images have the appearance of catalog photographs, something that would be used to sell a product, rather than represent it. The result is a jarring lack of symmetry as you browse through the pages. The problem is exacerbated by the bizarre photo-placement; some photos are centered on the pages, some run off the edges at top, bottom or sides and most seem to break up the text into strange blocks. I suspect this more a problem with the copy editor than the author, but it makes the book far less pleasurable to peruse.
A glossary is also included at the back of the book, but it is unfortunately not very exhaustive. Brief descriptions of words/topics are mentioned, but the information is lacking; for example, vermiculite is described as a mineral and a few possible uses for it are mentioned, but not where it is found or how it is obtained. That information might be included within the text, but since vermiculite is NOT in the index, I am unable to find it. Likewise, "transcendentalism" is included in the glossary and described as a school of philosophy, but neither transcendentalism, nor "philosophy" are included in the index. To make matters worse, some topics mentioned within the text were not included at all, like a definition or description of what "jerky" is. While I doubt many people are in-want of a definition for jerky, this book has attempted to be encyclopedic and all-inclusive in nature, so a thorough glossary should have been included. The glossary is also not cross-referenced, so readers looking for more information apart from a simple definition will have to hope the topic is included in the index to find more information. Again, in an "encyclopedia" proper indexing and cross-referencing are a must.
All in all, I'm disappointed with the book. I was looking for a guide that would present me with numerous topics to further familiarize myself with. I wasn't expecting an exhaustive tome that could be my only source on several hundred topics, but this book still falls a bit short of my expectations. A thoroughly detailed index and glossary could have greatly improved it in my eyes, but the inadequacy of those leaves me frustrated and unhappy with the book's overall format, because it's simply not easy to navigate. It's mediocre at best. I'm now on the search for a good replacement and will update if I find anything more suitable.
