If you want to return to a simpler lifestyle closer to nature or simply fancy pretending you're a Mongolian nomad, this is the book to help you achieve that dream. It's much more than a "pattern for a tipi or yurt" book. It offers tips on the practicalities involved in actually living in your tipi or yurt, from choosing a site and getting water to solar toilets and flooring.
I was fascinated by the information on open fires, because I'd often wondered how this was done and how come you didn't smoke yourself into a bit of leather. (And, after all, I'd never consider lighting a fire in a modern tent!) But here I discovered that a stone hearth helps to create a hot and smokeless fire, that the best place for a fire pit is just in the front of the very centre of the floor in a tipi and in the exact centre in a yurt. It's even possible to keep the rain out of your tipi while keeping a fire burning.
In fact, there are four different ways of keeping the rain out of your tipi. Rather essential as it's very miserable being cold and wet.
The instructions are logically set out and supplemented with clear line drawings and useful colour photographs. So while it's no small undertaking to build your own tipi or yurt, with this book at your side you will be able to. There's no fancy sewing or woodwork involved; the methods are very straightforward and well explained.
There are two chapters on the history and traditions of tipis and yurts, which make fascinating reading and an interesting comparison to the photos of the modern version being constructed. Ever seen a Mongolian yurt motel?
This is definitely one of those books that you first wonder whether it's serious (though the first clue is that it is comes with the author's name), then you get drawn in and, before you know it, you've sizing up your garden to see where you can build a tipi for yourself!
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