Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship

By Robert Baden-Powell

Book 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.
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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192805479
• ISBN13: 9780192805478
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 7.8" x 5.5"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Be Prepared... for a great, refreshing book.

Some of the information in this book may now be out of fashion and sometimes wrong, it is a great pleasure to read "Scouting for Boys". The ideals defended by B.P.: courage, generosity and compassion are as much a necessity today as they were a hundred years ago, when that book was first published. The idea of an active, "hands on" education still find its echo in today's most recent education innovations. Of course, the key message lies in the the initials of the author: Be Prepared!

Excellent if you skip the intro

This original text of BP's "Scouting for Boys" is an excellent read. You can skip the introduction, however. The intro is a steaming pile of horse excrement written by someone seething with contempt for BP and the Boy Scout movement. Why it was included with the book is beyond me unless it's to provide bum fodder whilst camping. Remember, a scout is thrifty!

"The British Empire wants your help"

At the very beginning of the twentieth century, retired General Robert Baden-Powell, the hero of the siege of Mafeking, coalesced his ideas for an organization to train young British boys in scouting for the British Empire. Not a very organized thinker, Baden-Powell borrowed heavily from all sorts of unrelated resources - newspaper articles, military dispatches, fiction, and much more - and produced this, his first book on scouting. Originally published as six separate books, this book brings all of them together, complete with original illustrations.Now, as might be expected from its roots, this book reflects a lot of the biases and ways of thinking from Edwardian England. But, leaving that aside, this is a fun and interesting book that shows clearly the forms that have stayed with the Boy Scouts movement to this very day. The introduction was written by Elleke Boehmer, a professor of Colonial and Postcolonial literature, and is a fairly predictable deconstruction/analysis of B-P and his movement.Now, as a newcomer to Scouting (my son is a Tenderfoot) did I find anything useful in this book? I sure did. Robert Baden-Powell was very knowledgeable about the subject, and this book sure shows it. (I never thought of tying my shoes like that!) Of course some of the information is out of date, especially the first-aid information, so it isn't really usable by the boys "as is." But, this is a nice resource, one that shows you where Scouting started.Oh, and I must say that I actually enjoyed the somewhat jumbled organization of this book. It isn't as scholarly and antiseptic as modern Boy Scout books, and the stories and tales laced throughout make the reading much more fun. Plus, I did find the focus on some subjects, such as logic and deductive reasoning, to be quite interesting. I loved this book, and highly recommend it to you!

A Book That Changed The World

This book is the basic foundation of the largest youth organisation in the history of the world and has been printed in more editions and languages than most other books apart from the Christion Bible. It was designed to be read by young people and to motivate them to develop all of their skills. It continues to be a major force in motivating young people to prepare to be active citizens in society. However it also contains simple truths for adults on the nature of young people and how best to help them learn and to achieve their full potential. It is required reading for adults educating or working with young people. Read it, enjoy it and then come join Scouting.

A good guide to life

This book is a great read, and although it was written some 92 years ago the basic message is as true today as it was then, And as it said in the first edition "Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship" still applies, so read it and apply the ideas for a better world.