This guy's work has had a brief mention on the forum before, but I thought I'd do a kind of mini review for those that aren't familiar with him. I borrowed it from the library, and it makes a really good read. As you can see from the chapter headings below, it's very comperehensive, but perhaps too much for it's own good. I got it to have a look at any tips it might have on metal working, and there are only two pages on that in chapter 10. In that one chapter there are nineteen different subsections on everything from spinning flax to curing and tanning (I've listed them below to show you what I mean). You could deride it as a coffee table book fort this reason, but I think this would be a mistake. There are wonderful illustrations, but these add to the explanations and are not the normal pretty pictures in decorative books. It's perhaps best viewed as a source of inspiration and ideas rather than a manual, but at four hundred pages it's really as close to the latter as you can get in one volume. £25 is more than I'd spend on a book, but that's what libraries are for.
1) The meaning of self-sufficiency.
2) Food from the garden.
3) Food from animals.
4) Food from the fields.
5) Food from the wild.
6) In the dairy.
7) In the kitchen.
8) Brewing and wine making.
9) Energy and waste.
10) Crafts and skills:
The workshop
Building
Springs and plumbing
Knots and ropework
Basketry
Pottery
Spinning wool and cotton
Dyeing and weaving
Spinning flax
Curing and tanning
Making bricks and tiles
Working in stone
Working in metal
Building and thatching
Scything
Working in wood
Household items
Making a pond and fish farming
The all-purpose furnace
Becoming a self-supporter
1) The meaning of self-sufficiency.
2) Food from the garden.
3) Food from animals.
4) Food from the fields.
5) Food from the wild.
6) In the dairy.
7) In the kitchen.
8) Brewing and wine making.
9) Energy and waste.
10) Crafts and skills:
The workshop
Building
Springs and plumbing
Knots and ropework
Basketry
Pottery
Spinning wool and cotton
Dyeing and weaving
Spinning flax
Curing and tanning
Making bricks and tiles
Working in stone
Working in metal
Building and thatching
Scything
Working in wood
Household items
Making a pond and fish farming
The all-purpose furnace
Becoming a self-supporter