Customer Reviews

The book draws together all manner of ways to save money, live healthily and enrich you and your family's lives. Review by Andy & Angie Polkey

Review

This book lives up to its subtitle. It really is 'a practical 'cookbook' of tested ideas', full of useful, fascinating, enjoyable and sometimes wacky tips (though we're not sure we agree with John Yeoman's favourable opinion of dandelion root coffee!). In four sections, Self Reliance draws you gently into the world of the scrounger (in the positive sense of the word!), the cook and preserve maker, the home brewer (and distiller!) and, finally, the doomsday survivor (plus family). The book draws together all manner of ways to save money, live healthily and enrich you and your family's lives. Most of the ideas have been tested, if not used regularly, by the author, and this is where much of the book's value lies. It's perhaps worth mentioning one omission and one practical drawback. Firstly, it's a shame there isn't a little more emphasis on the importance of community in the book. And secondly, because of the plethora of tips and ideas included in the book, the index can only guide you to general subject areas rather than specific iems, so be sure to mark the pages you want to find again! (Posted on 01/07/2010)