Almost a book review

[ina]

I’ve recently come across an interesting book and I’d like to share a few bits of it with you. The title is “Cottage Economyâ€Â

[Chickenlady]

I have seen this and read some reviews on Amazon. I ended up buying 'The Good Life' by Scott and Helen Nearing instead, which is interesting buy just a bit worthy.

[Wombat]

G'DAy Guys,

Yep I have both, but I really liked John and Sally Seymours "Self Sufficiency" and "Fat of the Land"!

Nev

[ina]

I really think you shouldn't see it as a potentially useful book on self sufficiency for our times. As a social history book I think it's brilliant. What I forgot to mention - he goes on and on about potatoes, and how they are at the root of all evil; the cause for squalor in Ireland etc., and how much better it is to eat bread instead.

Ina

[Millymollymandy]

Sounds like an interesting read, Ina. Just think, that's 200 years (ish) later than the series on telly, ' Tales from a Green Valley', where they recreated life on a farm in the 1600s. They certainly ate and cooked their apples and other fruit then.

[Wombat]

You're right Ina,

I have seen the "cottage Economy" quoted in a number of self sufficiency books and when I got my copy I was dissapointed - it is social history rather than "how to".

Nev

[kevin m.]

I'm currently reading John Seymour's 'The fat of the land',and a great read it is too!
Co-incidentally,John mentions Cobbett's 'Cottage economy' in the chapter that I read last night.
I can vaguely remember reading about Cobbett as part of my 'O' level history course at school all of thirty years ago.

[Millymollymandy]

I can vaguely remember reading about Cobbett as part of my 'O' level history course at school all of thirty years ago.

Lucky you, more interesting than Shakespeare and Tennyson's tedious poems, though I bet you thought it boring at the time.

[Guest]

We also covered Jethro Tull and 'Turnip' Townsend- social history gives you a better understanding of the past than learning loads of dates of battles imho,though I was always pretty good on historical dates-yes,I've got a headfull of pretty useless information,though it does come in handy for pub quizzes!

[kevin m.]

I'm such a that I keep forgetting to log in!
But no more- I've re-set my log in to automatic!

[Millymollymandy]

Oops, hadn't read that properly and thought you'd done it for English O level!

OK, so when was the repeal of the corn laws?

[kevin m.]

Oops, hadn't read that properly and thought you'd done it for English O level!

OK, so when was the repeal of the corn laws?

1846.

[Millymollymandy]

Well done, though I wouldn't know if that was correct or not! Just something that sticks in my mind from O level history!! There is only one historical date that I remember - the pretty obvious one.

[ina]

And what were the corn laws about? (Sorry, I'm just a stupid foreigner; I'm allowed to be ignorant! )

At school, I couldn't see any fun in history. I remember there was a famous battle in 333 - was it BC or AD, though? And who the heck battled??? But now, I actually rather enjoy reading historical stuff (not necessarily novels, but they can be good, if they are well researched).

Ina

[kevin m.]

The 'Corn laws' introduced in 1804,were a tax on imported grain,which was obviously welcomed by the rich landowners,but not by the poor of the rapidly growing towns of the industrial revolution.
They led to political dissent,culmonating in the infamous 'Peterloo massacre' of 1819,when cavalry attacked a crowd of protesters,killing and injuring many.
Quite radical stuff to be discussing here eh?
More 'wolfy' Smith,than Tom Good!