A son of humble circumstance (his father was an innkeeper), a champion of the working class, and an early anti-corporate activist, William Cobbett was most vociferous in his ideas about what makes for a happy and productive peasant. In this 1821 classic of self-reliance and the efficient usage and management of the small farm, Corbett shares his instructions and philosophies regarding . the brewing of beer (and why the notorious "tea" is not an acceptable substitute) . the making of bread (and why the "modern custom of using potatoes" to serve the same dietary purpose is deplorable) . the keeping of cows, pigs, bees, geese, and other useful creatures . the growing of straw for making hats and bonnets . the building of an ice house . and much more. British journalist and radical WILLIAM COBBETT (1762-1835) published the weekly newsletter Political Register and is also the author of Advice to Young Men (1829), The Progress of a Ploughboy to a Seat in Parliament (1830), and Rural Rides (1830).