Your cart
You have no items in your shopping cart.
Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship (Original 1908 Edition reprint)
R70.00
Quick Overview
A startling amalgam of Zulu war-cry and Sherlock Holmes, of practical tips on health and hygiene and object lessons in woodcraft, Scouting for Boys (1908) is the original blueprint and inspiration for the Boy Scout Movement. An all-time bestseller in the English-speaking world, second in its heyday only to the Bible, it is one of the most influential manuals for youth ever published, known and loved around the world.
A startling amalgam of Zulu war-cry and Sherlock Holmes, of practical tips on health and hygiene and object lessons in woodcraft, Scouting for Boys (1908) is the original blueprint and inspiration for the Boy Scout Movement. An all-time bestseller in the English-speaking world, second in its heyday only to the Bible, it is one of the most influential manuals for youth ever published, known and loved around the world.
Including all of Baden-Powell's original illustrations, this new critical edition of Scouting for Boys serves up a wonderful hodge-podge of true crime stories, stern moralizing, stock adventure tales, natural history, first-aid tips, advice on observation and tracking, and much more. Readers will find a roughly composed pastiche of jingoist lore and tracker legend, padded with lengthy quotations from adventure fiction--from Rudyard Kipling and James Fenimore Cooper, to Alexander Dumas and Arthur Conan Doyle--and seamed through with the multiple anxieties of its time: fears of degeneration ("the fall of the Roman empire was due to bad citizenship") and a constant worry over imminent war.
Alongside practical instructions on how to light fires, build a boat, or stalk animals (or men), it includes sections on chivalry, self-discipline, self-improvement, and citizenship. Indeed, the book brims with Baden-Powell's philosophy of life, one that replaces self with service, puts country before the individual, and duty above all. The introduction by Elleke Boehmer illuminates the book's maverick complexity and her notes clarify obscure references. Though almost a century old, Scouting for Boys continues to fascinate, surprise, and motivate readers today. It will delight anyone interested in popular culture, Victorian history, and literature for children.
- Baden-Powell's bestselling manual has become a bestseller all over again. This is the first, and only, critical edition of Scouting for Boys, whose republication in hardback in 2004 prompted huge review coverage and popular interest, with serialization in The Times and coverage from the THES to The Oldie
- The editorial material reveals the true complexity of this fascinating book: the introduction examines the text in relation to several to date unexplored topics - its status as children's literature; its literary and anti-literary qualities; its mosaic effects; its advice on male bonding and masculinity; its intertwining of the health of the body,the nation, and the empire.
- The edition not only explores contradictions which earlier scholars of Scouting for Boys have attempted to ignore (about sexuality, the environment, and empire) but it is also richly annotated with references to Baden-Powell's original manuscript, pointing to important excisions, borrowings, and revisions.
- The Notes relate the book to its many informing contexts, from Kipling to Samuel Smiles (author of Self-Help), woodcraft lore to detective fiction, amateur theatre to sex manuals
- Baden-Powell's original advice about masturbation, cut from the original, and all subsequent editions of Scouting for Boys, appears as an Appendix.
- All Baden-Powell's illustrations for the first edition are included.
More view
| Author | Robert Baden-Powell |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Place | London |
| Year | 2005-02-10 |
| ISBN | 9780192802460 |
| Binding | Paperback |
| Condition | Good |
| Comments | Page edges yellowed. |
Write Your Own Review
Only registered users can write reviews. Please Sign in or create an account
How we describe the condition of our books
We are very proud of the condition of the books we sell (please read our testimonials to find out more!)
New: Exactly as it says.
As New: Pretty much new but shows small signs of having been read; inside it will be clean without any inscriptions or stamps; might contain a remainder mark.
Very Good: Might have some creases on the spine; no hard cracks; maybe slight forward lean and short inscription inside; perhaps very minor bumping on the corners of the book; inside clean but the page edges might be slightly yellowed.
Good: A few creases on the spine, perhaps a forward lean, bumping on corners or shelfwear; maybe an inscription inside or some shelfwear or a small tear or two on the dustjacket; inside clean but page edges might be somewhat yellowed.
Fair: In overall good condition, might have a severe forward lean to the spine, an inscription, bumping to corners; one or two folds on the covers and yellowed pages; in exceptional cases these books might contain some library stamps and stickers or have neat sticky tape which was used to fix a short, closed tear.
Poor: We rarely sell poor condition books, unless the books are in demand and difficult to find in a better condition. Poor condition books are still perfect for a good read, all pages will be intact and none threatening to fall out; most probably a reading copy only.