Cottage Economy

The Original Classic of Self-Sufficiency

William Cobbett wrote Cottage Economy, published in 1821, with a twofold aim. First, to promote his personal philosophy of self-sufficiency, which he viewed as the foundation of family happiness. And second, to "instruct country laborers in the arts of brewing beer, making bread, keeping cows, pigs, bees, ewes, poultry, rabbits, and other matters." The book has enjoyed classic status ever since.

Though over 180 years old, Cottage Economy has lost none of its relevance or inspiration for anyone in search of what Cobbett called "a good living." Written with Cobbett's typical wit--and bulldog curmudgeonliness--it deserves its reputation as the founding bible of self-sufficiency and one of the greatest rural reads in the English language.