This work investigates the political and social implications of adopting a self-sufficient lifestyle in a modern industrial society. Michael Allaby and Peter Bunyard examine the feasibility of individual and community-level autonomy, drawing on ecological principles and historical precedents to argue that self-sufficiency requires a fundamental restructuring of current political and economic systems.

Experts recognize this text as a contribution to the 1970s environmental movement, reflecting the era's focus on alternative living. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and its historical significance in the discourse on sustainable development.