A few days ago I finished The Ultimate Guide to Homesteading - An Encyclopedia of Independent Living by Nicole Faires. Published in 2011 it does indeed include chapters on virtually everything, from "What is Homesteading" to "Building Shelter for Man and Animal" and "the Comforts of Life, Health and Family". Also featured are a dictionary and comprehensive bibliography.
It's Faires' intention to write the ultimate guide, note the quote in the beginning of the book "...if you had nothing and suddenly had to survive in the world by doing everything yourself, what would you need to know?" There's a danger when you claim to have written the "ultimate guide"; expectations are raised sky high and you must back it up. For one thing it has to be a pretty long book, I am guessing "everything you need to know" would fill quite a few pages. And that brings up another question...where do you stop? She mentions how to store an ax, don't you need to know how to make an ax as well if you are truly self-sufficient?
Back to my original point. My expectations were raised and the book did not exceed them. All in all, I think its a useful book, but one of a few you would want on your library shelf. And hopefully there is an updated edition; Nicole Faires from the looks of things is a true, albeit, young-ish, homesteader. I wonder what a 55 or 75 year old Faires' will have to contribute?
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