Creative Country Construction: Building & Living In Harmony with Nature

The volume under review is a combination and expansion of the authors' classic In Harmony with Nature and Country Comforts. In five chapters on log styles, four on post-and-beam styles, three on building basics, and a comparative wood-frame section, techniques and adaptive solutions are offered to the prospective country builder and homesteader. The text reads as a first-person narrative, which is difficult to maintain at intervals owing to the profusion of photographs, drawings, and diagrams. The current volume also returns to its predecessors' construction sites and updates the reader on their progress. Captions are clear when the drawings are not self-explanatory. As a think piece and a guide to solving site problems, this is a strong effort; a small but complete index and a metric conversion table are included. Recommended for academic technical collections, larger public library woodworking/homebuilder collections, and individuals interested in homesteading in a nature-friendly manner.
Alex Hartmann, INFOPHILE, Skokie, IL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.