I've checked this book out of my library so many times I've lost count. It is absolutely the best book on gardening I've ever read.

Gardening: The introdution explains the fundamentals of nature's cycles and the ecology of gardening. The edible parts of plants are explained. There are then several pages of (beautiful!) illustrations of vegetables, fruits & herbs. The cycle of seasons is discussed in the next chapter and it shows illustrations of what your garden might look like during each season and what gardening chores you perform during the different seasons. The essentials of good gardening are discussed in depth in the fourth chapter, such as soil treatment, composting, propagation, grafting & pruning, controlling pests, harvesting & storing, and the deep bed method of gardening.

Growing: Chapters 5-7 describe how to grow vegetables, fruits & herbs. What I like most is that in addition to explaining a little of the history of the plants, and how to grow them and propagate them, it also explains how to harvest and preserve the food that results. It also explains how to grow unusual food, like kumquats and quince, in addition to all the usual things you'd expect. Greenhouse growing is discussed in chapter 8.

Preserving: Chapter 9 describes how to preserve all the food that results from your garden. It explains the fundamentals of why food rots and the basic methods of preserving (salting, drying, pickling, canning, jamming, freezing). When making jam, this book assumes you get pectin by adding lemons or apples, not by running to the store to buy a packet of it. It shows how to make a solar dehydrator to dry your food, and which foods are best preserved using each method. It also goes into details on how to make wine, cider, and mead (honey wine).

Miscellaneous: The tenth chapter describes a miscellany of self-sufficient gardening topics, such as raising animals like chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, rabbits, and bees. Water drainage, terracing, garden paths, hedges, fences, sheds, and caring for tools are all discussed briefly.

If you can get a copy of this book, keep it! It's a jewel.

This is the best single reference for growing vegetable, herbs and fruits, with additional advice on preserving food. It contains in concise form valuable information on soil requirements, plant food, and diseases as well as other horticultural information. It is a gem. And so beautiful to look at!

This is one of the three books that anyone seriously interested in growing vegetables absolutely MUST have. (The other two are John Jeavons' "How To Grow More Vegetables . . . " and the century-old but in print Vilmorin manual "The Vegetable Garden."

Seymour's comprehensive, informed, clearly presented, expert information--and the many fine illustrative drawings--make this book essential; and that one word says all that needs saying.

I love this book. This book made a suburban middle class optometrist's son into a bearded dirty organic farmer. I checked it out of the library and never wanted to give it back. The artwork is fascinating the complex and friendly drawings give a magical life to the text. From the moment I opened the cover I wanted to do everything Mr. Seymour was writing about from plowing a field to butchering a pig to brewing my own beer. Every concievable farm activity was described in loving detail with amazing illustrations as well. The book sucks you right in like nothing else. There is this timeless turn of the century Victorian England countryside aura about the whole thing that is so inviting. I urge you to find a copy and see for yourself. Maybe you won't decide to become a farmer but it will assuredly make you think about it.

This book is the most amazing collection of how to on your own, I could have ever dreamed of. For anyone wanting to know how to do any of lifes basics, its in this book. I have had my copy for 20years and still can't believe how good it is. Great thats all, just Great!

Get one if you can, must have!

All the knowledge in the world is in this one book. Okay, maybe it just seems like it. John Seymour explains absolutely every skill you could possibly need for a self-sufficient lifestyle: gardening, animal husbandry, plowing with horse or tractor, building a hedge, brewing beer, making butter, blacksmithing, hunting, cooking, smoking, fishing, making clothes...EVERYTHING.

As he says, man was not created to be a cog in a wheel--he was created to fend for himself doing a little of everything. When you're done reading this book, you'll want to go out and do just that.

I am lucky enough to own a copy of "Farming for Self-Sufficiency." I have been following it's advice now for the past 6 years and have found it very helpful. You have to add your own caution to the words of Mr. Seymour because he is ever the optimist which is refreshing in the face of all the horror stories you will recieve from other sources. If you ever see any of his books for sale, buy them on the spot. You won't regret it.

Este libro da la ayuda para aquellos que precisan una base para comenzar a disfrutar de la vida sencilla, utilizando los recursos infinitos que da el campo. Poca tecnología moderna, experiencia de siglos de desarrollo y tradición agricola, y sobre todo una gran pasión por transmitir ese estilo de vida. Maravilloso y útil

My mother bought me this book at a Barnes&Noble sale many, many, years ago. I have loved it ever since. The drawings and photographs included in the book give it a homey feel. The writting and style of the book, along with the author's own child-hood experiences, help to create a welcoming atmosphere. A great book, I like how the author chose a mildew-speckled paper print for the inside covers, he is poking a little fun at himself.

If you've ever wondered how your grandmother or greatgrandmother functioned without Walmart, or perhaps wondered how to manage a household if you leave civilization behind, or are a history buff, this is an indispensible book. Filled with colored pencil drawings,and clear concise text, it shows how women supplied the needs of their households. The main categories are: Kitchen Crafts, Dairy Crafts, Laundry Crafts, Around the Home, Textile Crafts, and Decorative Crafts. Each of these holds a true wealth of information that is lost to us today. As a longtime seeker for women's historic lifstyles, I have seen no book better, complete yet simple to understand, that addresses how our elders lived. If you find it grab it! This is abook that should be passed down. The frontspiece says another of Seymour's books, The Forgotten Crafts is a companion volume to this book.

This is a great book about the life of a great American. If you have doubts and fears about seeing your dreams become realities, this book will be very encouraging for you. I now work for the company John Amos founded (AFLAC), and I assure you, that your life plans can be changed by learning his life story.

This book is one of the best book's I've had the pleasure of reading. What a great American!

I've checked this book out of my library so many times I've lost count. It is absolutely the best book on gardening I've ever read.

Gardening: The introdution explains the fundamentals of nature's cycles and the ecology of gardening. The edible parts of plants are explained. There are then several pages of (beautiful!) illustrations of vegetables, fruits & herbs. The cycle of seasons is discussed in the next chapter and it shows illustrations of what your garden might look like during each season and what gardening chores you perform during the different seasons. The essentials of good gardening are discussed in depth in the fourth chapter, such as soil treatment, composting, propagation, grafting & pruning, controlling pests, harvesting & storing, and the deep bed method of gardening.

Growing: Chapters 5-7 describe how to grow vegetables, fruits & herbs. What I like most is that in addition to explaining a little of the history of the plants, and how to grow them and propagate them, it also explains how to harvest and preserve the food that results. It also explains how to grow unusual food, like kumquats and quince, in addition to all the usual things you'd expect. Greenhouse growing is discussed in chapter 8.

Preserving: Chapter 9 describes how to preserve all the food that results from your garden. It explains the fundamentals of why food rots and the basic methods of preserving (salting, drying, pickling, canning, jamming, freezing). When making jam, this book assumes you get pectin by adding lemons or apples, not by running to the store to buy a packet of it. It shows how to make a solar dehydrator to dry your food, and which foods are best preserved using each method. It also goes into details on how to make wine, cider, and mead (honey wine).

Miscellaneous: The tenth chapter describes a miscellany of self-sufficient gardening topics, such as raising animals like chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, rabbits, and bees. Water drainage, terracing, garden paths, hedges, fences, sheds, and caring for tools are all discussed briefly.

If you can get a copy of this book, keep it! It's a jewel.

This book has something about everything! Want to raise poultry or rabbits? Want to know which plants to grow year round? How about building a greenhouse? It's all in here! The only problem that I can see is that a truly self-sufficient gardener is going to want some grains for bread... if that is in your sights, you may want to add one more book to your library.

They call it "Successful Manager's Handbook". That is correct. But one thing you should know about this beautifully structured text is that it benefits anyone who seeks knowledge from it. Thus, I would not advise you to wait until you become a 'successful manager' before paying attention to it.
Even if you are the most unsuccessful messenger around, the valuable productivity guidelines in this book would go a long way in defining and improving your status. If diligently applied, the principles of this book would enhance your overall potentials: be it official or domestic.
This book is a handbook for all. It is an asset for matured dealings.

I just picked up a copy in an airport bookstore. I looked at one suggestion, and used it when I got back to the office. My productivity has skyrocketed. I think a lot of the suggestions here are commonsense. But do any of us have enough commonsense?

The Routledge reference book "Companion To Contemporary Musical Thought" is a must for anyone who takes music seriously wether they be a performer, composer, musicologist or simply a lover of art and sound. Brought together by an editorial team consisting of John Payntor and other members of York University, the Companion is perhaps the first reference book which aims to present, in a clear and scholarly manner, the developement of contemporary music as well as the many facets of musical science and thought. The fifty-seven articles include a vast number of topics such as music appreciation, including the ability to understand differences in musical style, past and present; the reason behind the exploration of new musical resources; performers attitudes towards interpretation; in depth surveys of the possibilities concerning creative processes in composition;and the investigations and general critical writings of various music scholars. Contributers consist of various internationally respected composers, musicologists, performers, sociologists, educators and music analysts. The "Companion" presents a comprehensive survey of current thinking within the framework of culture, technological, structural and interpretational viewpoints. The topics discussed are of particular importance to the international music community today, offering possibilities for debate, discussion and stimulating study with the aim of promoting a richer understanding of music. Contributers include Jonathan Harvey, Lou Harrison,Ellen T. Harris, Bruce Pennycook, Jean-Claude Risset, Philip Wilby, Klaus Neumann, Peter Holman, John Bryan, Graham Dixon, R. Murray Schafer,James Fulkerson,Alison Wray, David Kershaw, Istvan Anhalt, John Payntor,Joel Chadabe,Richard Orton, Richard More, Curtis Roads and many others. Of course many of the seminal figures of twentieth century music are discussed accordingly throughout(i.e. Xenakis, Stockhausen, Cage, Varese, Webern etc.). The "Companion to Contemporary Musical Thought" comes in two beutifully bound volumes,consists of 1208 pages and includes an introduction by distiguished composer and writer Wilfred Mellers.

This book is filled to the brim with descriptions on how people have produced materials for their every need before being replaced by inferior (but cheap) mass produced items. Baskets, walls, barrels, baking, smithing, this book has them all--with the unfortunate excepting of bookbinding. Not heavy on the detail side, instead giving a broad scope of now lost skills--accompanied by photographs, excellent drawings, and anecdotes that reveal the warm personality of the author. A wonderful addition to the library of anyone who's ever thought "What happened to quality? Maybe cheaper isn't better!"

I know understand myself, and others more than before. If you think this is some book that will help you control people's minds, this isn't what you are looking for. This will help you understand the sub-concious subtleties that everyone has. It also helps you to excersise your brain power to acheive excellence.

Of the many books published on Neuro-Linguistic Programming, this version tops the list. I say that because it does such an effective job of simplifying a complex set of processes and helps the reader understand its applications. Bandler and Grinder's earlier publications brought the concept to life; O'Connor and Seymour make it far more usable.

I do very highly recommend this book. It is enjoyable to read - considerably moreso than other books of it's kind. From this book you will get a very good background in the field. I believe this book serves much better for background information than to give you a set of techniques... if you want to learn techniques --- DO IT AT A SEMINAR --- nevertheless it is very useful to learn them ahead of time.
This book is a good precursor to The Structure of Magic and Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, M.D. both by Richard Bandler and John Grinder -- which go much more indepth into the linguistic portions of the NLP model.