the best book I ever bought

Genuinely, this book has enriched my life. This sounds very strong language, but a glimpse of how achieveable a degree of self sufficiency can be is a great stress-buster and very uplifting.

Practical, useful, full of ideas and inspiration, this book will motivate anyone to take a step or two towards self sufficiency, wherever they live.

Every chapter is interesting, well written, and well illustrated. The craft skills are useful and practical and whilst a compost-toilet is not quite the thing for our garden in the suburbs, all the practical projects are well described and amply illustrated.

A great reference book, a comfort on a cold winter's night, I recommend it to anyone.

Growing into an expert

Just moved from London with a shady patio to a country acre, with greenhouse and allotment sized veg patch - and not had to buy a vegetable since March. I was worried gardening was one of those things you couldn't do by book-learning, but of the four tomes I picked up, this is the only one I would use. Brilliant, and inspiring confidence straight away - I'm buying the rest of the series!

great kids book

A good first book when you are thinking about getting 'pet' chickens. It is worded simply, no jargon and is a great book to share with your kids. I think if you want just a basic knowledge then this is the book for you, but if you want more (more than pretty pictures and text aimed at youngsters aka dorling kindersley style) you should buy a different book. If I didn't have young kids to pass this book onto to read I'd think it was a bit of a waste of money, sorry.

Very thorough garden planning book

A good book for those planning a garden. It has special sections on commonly cultivated plants and sections on how to troubleshoot. I planned my garden using this and it was a great help.
Just a note that it's not really for:
- looking up a plant you've seen in a garden centre
- identifying a mysterious thing you've got in your inherited garden
If you want to do either of those, you need to use a different kind of book.

Highly recommended for students and professionals

This book provides a valuable introduction to horticulture. The information covered is wide ranging, explained clearly and is accompanied on many occasions by useful pictures and diagrams. This text was useful to me on the HNC/HND (Horticulture) course and also occasionally during my horticultural degree. The book would also be of interest to many horticuural professionals. There are not currently enough text books available specifically for horticultural students so this book is a valuable one.

Now the best guide available to British fungi

I bought Phillips' pioneering"Mushrooms and Other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe" when it came out in the early 1980s for identifying British fungi. At the time it was revolutionary in the use of photographs that allowed the author to depict mushrooms much more accurately than the paintings of earlier guides. Until recently, it was still one of the top field guides to this region (also check Courtecuisse & Duhem, and Jordan [ISBN 0002200252]). I still use this volume a lot for identifying American fungi, both in the tropics and northward. Although I have over 200 field guides of different sorts on my shelves this remains one of my all time favourites.

This current book, Mushrooms (ISBN 0330442376), supersedes the older Phillips guide. It follows the format of the original book quite closely, but is now slightly smaller to make it more of a field guide - about the same size as Skinner's"Moths of the British Isles" (ISBN 0670803545) and, although still won't fit into a pocket, it is much more manageable than the older A4-sized book. There are 1,250 photographs, all of the excellent quality one associates with the author. Some 200 extra species are treated. Taxonomy and text has been brought up to date and into line with the standard taxonomy and nomenclature of lists published by the British Mycological Society.

If you're interested in fungi, don't hesitate - this book must be on your shelves. When you consider how much work went into this project, this represents tremendous value for money.

Chris Sharpe, 8 September 2006. ISBN: 0330442376

Gorgeous book, perfect gift

Agree with all that has been said previously!!!!!! Perfect gift for any new mum (First, fith), gorgeous pictures and lots of simple tips. Perfect addition to the Contented Little baby series, but also excellent as a stand alone book.

Excellent resource for learning 'pack leadership'

For those who want to expand their knowledge and abilities with dog leadership skills this book provides valuable tools for achieving that goal. Every episode from Cesar Millan's first 3 series of 'The Dog Whisperer' is reviewed and analysed. This in depth analysis helps to make very real the method which Cesar uses.

Unlike 'dog training' Cesar and others who follow the 'pack system' focus on creating harmony and balance in our dogs. We use our dog's natural and hard wired instincts to create change which allow them to 'be themselves'. This method helps to meet our dogs needs rather than us just getting our needs met when we get love and affection from our dogs.

This book allows us to get a much deeper understanding of the way Cesar uses the 'power of pack leadership' to help create happy balanced dogs. The book also gives follow ups which help to see that even with Cesar's help some dogs and their owners are unable to make the desired changes.

This book provides a valuable guide that is well written and very concise. Whatever breed of dog you have, whatever age and whatever your dogs problems you will find help in the pages of this book.

Hail Queen Anthea!

My friends all laugh at me and say I have OCD cleaning issues, but Antheas book informed me that I am running a tidy household! Her tips are great, especially her spring cleaning list, which I am working through just now even though it is summer. The tips for cleaning out your wardrobes have inspired me to get a babysitter this week and devote a day to tackle my wardrobe problems. I found the book quite positive and inspirational in parts. I have read a lot of it previously in a 1950's book I found about home management and just wonder how much Anthea got from historical cleaning routines that have been written about. Nevertheless, this is a good book and tends itself well for the new housekeeper, it can be daunting if you are not quite as precise as Anthea and may leave you feeling you are 'not quite' meeting standards expected, but it gives you something to aim for, I loved Antheas TV series and bought the dvd to actually watch the tips in action, again, as another reviewer stated, it would have been nice to have some demonstration pics in the book. I have changed my opinion of Anthea, I did honestly think (sorry Anthea!) that she was a bit of a nobody, but my opinions have definately changed and I hope she does another series. I really do think that a lot more woman would like to devote more time to their households but the pace and way of life these days means woman are split in so many directions, I am just thankful my life allows me the freedom to work and also keep an orderly home.
4 stars Anthea!

An insightful look into sleepng patterns...

This book is an insightful look into sleeping patterns and understanding sleep. A baby who is taught how to sleep well has been given an invaluable lesson for life. We all know that if you are able to get a good nights sleep you are able to function and be more productive the next day. Human beings are creatures of routine. Most of us get up in the morning followed by breakfast, we have lunch in the middle of the day and dinner in the evening, then go to sleep in the late evening. Why should life be so very different for a baby..This daily rythum is a confort to my baby, a few familiarities within her ever changing world.
A useful book for either parents with a new baby looking for help on how to get their baby into the pattern of life (it has to happen at some point so why not right from the beginning so it is always the norm) or for parents who are struggling with a baby still not sure when they are supposed to be asleep and when they are supposed to be awake!

How to do everything ... in two paragraphs

There is no denying the scope of this book is, to say the least, comprehensive. It covers almost every topic imaginable in DIY from dry lining your basement to capping the chimney and covers it at every range whether you just want to change a fuse or rewire the entire building.

That scope though is both its virtue and its problem. Yes I can pick this up and be fairly confident that it will tell me how to go about building a stud wall but I know that it is also likely to be something of an overview of the subject rattled off in a few paragraphs. Often that is enough. There are a lot of jobs where a grasp of the basics and a willingness to have a go are good enough and if I'm laying new paving slabs I'll read this and go for it. Alternatively there are some jobs where I'd like a little more expertise than this can provide. Yes this book will tell me how to change the main fuse box but I'm not going to do that when it means working on the live side of a 100 amp line! In those cases though at least it lets me know roughly how difficult the job is so that I don't sound like a complete numpty when I call an electrician and ask if they could replace the 'thingummy by the front door with the fuses in it'.

The new (2007) edition has some changes most are improvements, some are not, but the improvements could be sufficient to make it getting the new edition. On the downside the binding is not as good as previous issues so this is a book which could suffer in use. On the upside there is more detail about building regulations and approval. Not in so much detail that it gets in the way of what you want to do but enough to give an overview of the process and in a nod to the way the world moves there are now sections on 'communications' and the 'office at home'.

I'd say to anyone that they should buy this book even if you don't ever intend to do the DIY yourself. If you do the DIY this is a good first reference to find out what to do. If it's not comprehensive enough then it will give enough of an overview that you will know what to look for when searching for more detail and if you do get someone else to do the job you've a better chance of knowing if they're doing the right thing.

absolutely mind altering

Ok, so my title might sound a bit over the top... That being said, the simple way the information in this book is made available to you, the reader, is absolutely fantastic. I have always found it silly to use acronyms or sayings from 'improve yourself' kinda books, but the almost silly frog references in this book stay in your mind. I use them myself daily when i try to put off things i should get done, and they work!!
I have to give this book my warmest recommendations! thanks!!

There are better books

I did write a critique a couple of years ago but it has disappeared from this list. People who found this book good have not read any really good books on dog behaviour/training. I had a very difficult terrier and I had access to an American library as well as all the British books. I have probably read more books on dog behaviour than a college course. Read John Fisher's books, 'Think Dog', 'Why Does My Dog?', 'Dogwise'. Jean Donaldson's 'The Culture Clash'. Look at the Volthard dog training method, but don't waste your money on Jan Fennell's book! Borrow it from the library if you must.

fantastic

What can I say ...except this book is a must have for learning everything about making cakes through to how to decorate in various ways. It is very infromative with easy to follow instructions...a complete must for the beginner right through to the more experienced. It was so good that I bought book 2 also, another great book.

FANTABULOUS!

I bought this book expecting the same old same old.. and was taken by suprise the moment I opened it. From the first page, the book had me hooked, and it just got better and better all the way through. Then to top it off, not just one cherry but dozens - were the patterns in the back of the book. There are patterns for everything you see in the book, all securely kept in the book, and all you do is trace them out. They are incredibly simple and easy to follow. This really is a treat of a book and I can highly recommend it for those who like doll type art, in a more Scandinavian folk type way.

A real gem

This book is fascinating for any tree enthusiast.
It is the perfect tool you can use to identify different tree types.
The writing style is concise and in-depth.
A sheer masterpiece.
Picture quality is high definition. Images are portrayed in vivid detail.
This book is fantastic.
If you are even slightly interested in trees or want to expand your knowledge of trees buy this book.