The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency: The Classic Guide for Realists and Dreamers (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Deirdre Headon (Editor), William Sutherland (Preface), E. E. Schumacher (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Everyone dreams at some point in their lives of living the good life, albeit not in terms of the BBC comedy series. In this revised and fully updated edition of John Seymour's classic guide to self-sufficiency, the dream becomes more attainable. Now running a School of Self-Sufficiency in Ireland, John Seymour is as committed as ever to living a better life, more simply, by living off the land rather than out of shops. His magnum opus covers every conceivable topic from animal husbandry and butchering, seed sowing and cropping, dairy production and food storage, rubbish and recycling. All delivered in Seymour's inimitable, occasionally brusque style, it is a mine of information artfully illustrated with the original illustrations redrawn in full colour. New material includes GM crops, urban gardens and alternative forms of energy with craft skills rounding the picture of natural wholesomeness off nicely. A classic of its time and a new classic in the making, this revised edition will encourage and assist all those aspiring to a live a healthier, more environmentally friendly life. - Lucy Watson

Product Description

Make the break, realise the dream and start living 'The Good Life!' Packed with comprehensive information on all the practicals, from ploughing fields to milking cows, as well as new information on how to create an urban organic garden and harness natural energy. This new and revised full-colour edition of the illustrated classic is an engrossing read and a wonderful handbook for realists and dreamers alike.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd; Revised edition (April 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0751364428
• ISBN-13: 978-0751364422
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #201,283 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book: in a purely aspirational way, June 30, 2008

By	pmegan "pmegan" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

Sometimes, when I'm having a particularly bad day, I take down this book and open it up to the section on how to arrange your self-sufficient farm on 1 or 5 acres. "All we would need," I beg my husband, "is five acres! And then we could keep 2 cows! One to milk and one to eat." His response? "You're a vegetarian."

Ahem. Anyway.

I love this book. It's a DK book, so it's well written, with short chapters/descriptions based on specific subjects. This format makes it easy to flip through for fun, or to find the information that interests you. There are lots of illustrations, drawn in the style that appears on the cover. It includes information on growing crops, keeping (and butchering) animals, cooking, weaving, energy, water, building... basically everything you need to know to do everything you need on your own.

Is this a total fantasy for most people? Yes, of course. But this is still such a useful book, even if you just want to learn the information in it without using it. Most everything in here used to be passed down from parent to child, and it was what people needed to know to survive. It's all information that's being lost and forgotten. And who knows, maybe soon enough we'll need to remember it?

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best book ever!, March 13, 2008

By	Oyvind Grimstad Gryt - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is the perfect book for people who want to gain more control over their lives and live healthily in cooperation with the environment. You'll learn everything from rearing cattle, growing onions, harness natural power and furnishing a dairy. The perfect starting point for a better life away from the grind. And the best thing is that it's written in a very introductory manner so you don't have to be raised on a farm to understand it.

It changed my life..

82 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest Book Ever Written, January 4, 2007

By	A. Turpen "militant libertarian" (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the greatest self-sufficiency book ever written. That's my opinion. :) I highly recommend this to anyone who wishes to become less impactful on the environment and to have more money in their pockets thanks to this style of living. You can do a little or a lot, depending on what you have to work with initially. This is an awesome, non-hippie/tree-hugger book about self-sufficiency free of all of the "lefty green" dogma you usually have to put up with. Great stuff!!!