The Wheelwright's Shop Revised ed. Edition

Intelligent and well written by a man who was eye-witness to the death of a way of life, the making of horse-drawn vehicles. Part romance, part technical description, part social commentary, The Wheelwright's shop captures what it was like to live, work and get along in a small shop in rural England at the end of the 19th century. Particularly poignant are the characters he describes of the men and women who influenced him the most. This is not a how-to, but a what it was like to work with men with knowledge in their hands, not their heads.

For centuries the wheelwright was an indispensable part of rural life in England and America. Without wheels nothing moved and the wheelwright used a combination of instinct, knowledge and experience to provide the right wheels for all kinds of vehicles.Sturt came to the scene late, in the period before World War I. His was a fully developed craft not yet overtaken by the machine age. He describes the process of making wheels, from harvesting the timber to fitting the iron tires. In the process he gives us a wonderful feel for what it meant to be an experienced craftsman.Even if you're not interested in wheels, if you're interesting in craftsmanship and the old ways of doing things, this is the book for you.

A very detailed accounting of one of the last Wheelwrights. To appreciate the book, one must be familiar with woodworking at some level. Mr. Sturt paints a picture of someone with professional skills in the repair and making of wagons, carts, and wheelbarrows. The book may be of interest to those unfamiliar with woodworking but appreciate the long apprenticeship required to become a fullfledged wheelwright. Tis sad that a talent so needed for thousands of years, including Egypt and Rome, disappears. When the wagon factories and the automobile came about this made the wheelwright obsolete.....

This is about my favorite book in the world. The author paints a wistfull and heart-felt picture of a world, which is, sadly, almost gone. He was the last of a family of English farm-cart and wagon builders, who's craft was the high-end of traditional technical woodworking. This book is beautifully written-both on the sentence level, and in it's loving descriptions of human skill and practical knowledge. I have been a fulltime professional woodworker and student of traditional woodworking for more than thirty years, and this book, more than any other, has helped me understand the connection between what I do, and who I am.

A powerful palliative for those of us growing tired of the mass production, planned obsolescence, "consumer" economy and lifestyle. You won't regret the purchase....and it's not a throwaway either. You'll re-read this one, if only for the quality of the language.

I quite enjoyed this, until, after reading it, I went online and searched for more information ... and found the complete book, scanned in ... and realized that I had been sold an abridged version, that left out half of the content!I don't mind spending $40 for a book...but I really dislike getting an overly slim volume, and NOWHERE being told ahead of time that it's had material missing. Shame on Amazon and shame on Obscure Press.

Yes

I enjoyed this book as it gives a look at a 19th century wheel and cart building business. The author writes clearly and I was kept fascinated at how wheels and carts were made fully by hand. The craftsmanship needed was impressive. A good read.

An interesting historical account of aspects of life in a wheelwright's yard by a participant and observer of the various skills needed to make wooden wheels with incites into the relationships between the craftsmen. Many of these skills have now been forgotten as they were mostly learned by proper apprenticeships and passed down by watching, doing and making mistakes.

En anglais et très technique, est utile à ceux qui veulent reconstruire des roues pour charrettes à chevaux

A thourough description of life in the village wheelwrights shop.It was obviously written when George Sturt was old and infimed and addmits to the occasional memory loss.He does tend to jump from one subject to another in the same chapter,then returning, but this is a way of confiming his details which I found unusual, but glad of..He describes every skill of the craft as in the early 20th. century, using no machinery and, even looks to the future of mass production with sadness.The latest date given by George is 1916, and I would be interested i knowing how old he was when the book was published.Another book I will cherish and read again.Thanks again to University Press

I would prefer hard cover.

Good on general description, short on practical details.