Scouting for Boys: The Original 1908 Edition

by Robert Baden-Powell

Written by Robert Baden-Powell, Lieutenant General in the British Army and founder of the international Scouting movement, Scouting for Boys is one of the most influential manuals for youth ever published. First printed in 1908, it remains an all-time bestseller in the English-speaking world, second only to the Bible.
The original blueprint and "self-instructor" of the Boy Scout Movement, Scouting for Boys is a fascinating fusion of "yarns and pictures," an irresistible mixture of nationalistic narrative, tracker legend, and quotations from Baden-Powell's own autobiography and the popular adventure fiction of Rudyard Kipling, James Fenimore Cooper, and Alexander Dumas. The book provides practical advice on lighting fires, building boats and stalking animals, alongside proper Victorian-era education on chivalry and manners, self-discipline and improvement, and above all, good citizenship. Expounding upon the topics intrinsic to the life of a scout — tracking, woodcraft, camp life, endurance, patriotism, and more — this classic is essential for anyone interested in popular culture and the history of scouting and youth education. Ninety original diagrams and illustrations enhance the text.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Classics, Reference, Education, Nature, Leadership

432 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1907

About the author

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell , British general and first baron Baden-Powell, founded the Boy Scouts in 1908 and with his sister Agnes Baden-Powell founded the Girl Guides in 1910.

This also known lord and lieutenant in the Army wrote of the movement.

Charterhouse school educated Baden-Powell, who afterward from 1876 served in the Army in India and Africa until 1910. In 1899 during the second Boer War in South Africa, Baden-Powell successfully defended the besieged city of Mafeking. He wrote several also read military books for reconnaissance and training in his African years. Based on those earlier books, he wrote Scouting for Boys , which Pearson published in 1908 for youth readership. During writing, he tested his ideas on Brownsea island through a camping trip that began on 1 August 1907, now seen as the beginning.

Baden-Powell and notably Olave Saint Clair Soames, his wife, after their marriage actively gave the movement. Baden-Powell lived his last years in Nyeri, Kenya, where he died.

Reviews

[Pramod Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We must change boys from a ‘what can I get’ to a ‘what can I give’ attitude.” - Robert Baden-Powell

Now this is one book that brings back nostalgic memories of my school days. As a scout this book was my Bible during those days.

‘Scouting for Boys’ acts as a handbook for everyone related to scouting – a boy scout, a trainer or a whole patrol or troop of scouts. It explains the motto and the concept related with the scouting fraternity along with advice and education for aspirant scouts in a range of topics like self-discipline, outdoor life, basic survival skills and navigation, endurance, chivalry, morality and honor.

The book is actually a lot of fun to read, as it is full of little anecdotes about a range of interesting subjects and has charming illustrations and detailed diagrams which make it easier to understand. The sections pertaining to observation, logical deduction, basics of spooring, woodcraft, first-aid, signaling and outdoors survival are especially interesting and detailed. The whole content of the book is based on Baden-Powell’s vast real world experience as a military man and this makes the content more authentic and fascinating.

This is one of the most influential – best selling too - book in the English-speaking world, yet it may be one of the lesser known and largely forgotten titles in the present world. This book teaches a lot of stuff, which can bolster the self-esteem of a child and make him self-reliant & confident to take on challenges with a smile!

A scout is never taken by surprise as this handbook was written with the purpose of making him always “Be Prepared…”. Through the Scout’s Association and this book Baden-Powell’s intention was to enlighten a child in everything that is needed to be a constructive human being and an active contributor to the society by being a great citizen with high moral values. In the present day world the priorities and the morality expectations may have changed a lot; some of the ideas presented by the book may have worn-out a bit; still this book is worth as a gift to any child as it will teach him a thing or two about self-sustenance, leadership skills and handling disappointments in life with grace.

I recommend this title for those who are interested in learning about the history of the scouting organization and getting familiar with basic outdoor survival skills.

[I Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is perhaps an unusual choice for a female my age to read, but I watched a programme on television which sparked my interest and I don’t regret having given it a look. Aside from it's historic importance as the very origin of Scouting, it is filled with many topics of interest.

The writing is very moral based (and Baden-Powell’s military stance pervades the text), but this is actually quite refreshing living in today’s society and it’s a shame many of the lessons aren’t taught and followed as much now.

There is quite a comprehensive range of survival skills included which is as useful to any adult reading as the children it was intended for and I particularly liked the fact that Baden Powel shared his experience and knowledge which he has gained through real situations with the reader, rather than literally describing instructions. It was also fascinating hearing of how different native people around the world have mastered certain techniques.

Certainly there was no such thing as health and safety in the days when this was written. The sentence: “Another way is to open a knife with a blade at each end; stick one blade into the ground, hold the other carefully between your teeth and you will hear all the better.” Made me conjure up hideous accidents in my mind, but at least back then people were having fun without the worry!

I thought some of the games described would have been great fun as a child and will be keeping various ideas in mind for a time in the future when maybe I’ll have children.

Everyone will probably find at least one thing inside this book which they'll enjoy learning about.

[Burt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been a scout leader for several years and my son and I were staying at the Baden-Powell house in London. We went to the main London scout supply store, where I bought Scouting for Boys. I read most of it while I was in London and my ardor for today's flavor of Scouting was dampened considerably by the read.

Baden-Powell envisioned a robust form of scouting that is no longer practiced in the US for fear of lawsuits and damaged psyches and political correctness. Baden-Powell had the right of it. Scouting ain't what it used to be.

Read this book to find out what Scouting should be and what you as a father, or a son, can learn to be self-reliant. A value-laden how-to book.

[Samuel Rogers · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book, wow.

Conceived as a response to British anxieties about the degeneration of its young men, this foundational book for Britain's Scout Movement laid out guidelines for toughening and disciplining young men through outdoor activities, military-like drill, and physical exercise; instilling values of obedience, self-restraint, patriotism, and self-sacrifice on behalf of the British Empire.

Working through the book, v. quickly did Baden-Powell rise to my "least favorite people" list. His guide—which was only outperformed in the English-speaking world in publishing stats by the Bible until WWII!—is shameless propaganda for regulating gender roles and subordinating young men to existing power structures. Also, just gotta say: the decline of the British Empire had literally nothing to do with excessive "self-abuse" (google it).

Women are reduced to vulnerable victims in need of male chivalry. Love this excerpt about some dude named Sir Nigel Loring: "He had a big, plain lady as his wife, but he always upheld her beauty and virtue, and was ready to fight anybody who doubted him." Ladies, the search is over. Get yourself a militarized boy scout who ties his neck kerchief just so and who beats people up for calling you not cute.

Also, knights were not all shining armour and "shield and lance and waving plumes." They were roving, violent conquerors who definitely smelled really bad. Baden-Powell, you seem like a really not fun person to be around. Like why are there depictions in your book of how to sit in a chair? Chill, bruh. Also, this org you started ended up being a really bad thing for a lot of boys.

Ok goodbye.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scouting For Boys can be read by anyone, male or female, with a desire to learn.
This book is the fourth best selling book in the world, after the Bible, the Koran and Mao's Red Book.
There are no scouts in only seven countries - like Myanmar and North Korea.
Of the twelve men who have walked on the Moon, eleven were scouts. Michael Collins who orbited during the first landing was also a scout.

Scouting teaches independence, self-reliance, teamwork and many useful skills. Scouting builds helpfulness, fitness and character. Scouting instils a love of and respect for nature.

B-P as he was known, was an Army man who saw how useful trained young boys could be in many situations, such as first aid, signalling or carrying messages and so on. The healthy ethos and team spirit he conveys are not aimed at turning young people into soldiers but good citizens capable of initiative.

This is an easy read for young people or adults and can be highly entertaining. There are valuable lessons to be passed on such as lifesaving and care for the environment. Reading this book may be the most useful thing you will ever do.

[Ania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tak mnie straszyli, że to książka nie do przebrnięcia, że paskudna, że trudna, a bardzo mi się podobała. Może dlatego, że naprawdę chciałabym stać się lepszym człowiekiem, dobrym harcerzem, przysłuży się drużynie i społeczeństwu, a to był podręcznik do tego stworzony. Kilka rzeczy uważam już za nieaktualne, ale większość jest bez dwóch zdań ponadczasowa. Czułam często wyrzuty sumienia, że zachowuje się w taki sposób a nie inny, ale po to czytałam tą pozycję w każdym możliwym momencie moich wakacji, żeby pracować nad sobą w kolejnych aspektach i pomoc innym pracować nad sobą, bo w młodych jest przyszłość narodu.

A może podobało mi się przez podobieństwo do historii o Panu Samochodziku, na których się wychowałam? Serio, byłyby cztery gwiazdki, ale niektóre ustępy, te nieaktualne, pomijałam bez skrupułów. Czas na nowe, uaktualnione wydanie. Ale warto przeczytać, nie tylko instruktorom, chociaż mam teraz głowę pełną pomysłów na zajecia

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the original Boy Scout handbook, the one on which the Movement was based, and the first one used by my particular Troop, of which I am the Scoutmaster. The first USA Handbook for Boys came out in 1911. The BSA itself was formed in 1910. Our Troop was formed in 1908, one of the very first in the USA.
In this work, Baden-Powell has a lot of good sense put in colloquial and "chummy" English for the boy of 12-17 years old in pre-WWI Britain. A lot remains valid. Particularly still useful is B-P's teaching on boy leadership. It's absolutely essential in Scouting.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scouting when it wasn't for Nancy city boys (ummm, like me). In order to get your second class, you have to track someone for a few miles in the snow. This hardcore book pretty much teaches you to become a ninja.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently picked up my old copy of this whilst tidying through some boxes in the attic.

I used to love the stories and lessons in it and still believe that there is a place for such books in todays society. Without any doubt this work served many generations well... and should continue to do so.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinantă!

[Cena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean, it’s written by a British military man in 1908, so of course it contains a variety of -isms. (I’d argue that classism is the most prevalent one, although certainly arguments can be made for others.)

Still, I mostly enjoyed reading it, and appreciated the view of citizenship as not just blind loyalty to a nation, but that it starts at home - to your community, town, nation, and the world. The Scout Law is an interesting moral philosophy that I’ve given quite a bit of thought to.

Favorite yarn: “I had eaten the large kind of lizard called an iguana. He had his head and tail cut off… and when boiled and put on the table, looked exactly like a headless baby…he tasted just like a baby too. Well - you know what a baby tastes like - sort of soft chicken, flavoured with violet-powder.”

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of it was quite dry because frankly there's a lot from scouts you can't learn from reading a book, and it goes to show why "Learn by doing" is such an important part of the Scout Method. That being said, I have no regrets reading this and I do consider it an important and relevant read because it gives you a really good insight into the foundations of Scouting. Obviously he's quite old-fashioned and traditional at times, but when you take Baden-Powell with a grain of salt I enjoyed certain parts.

[Simão Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uma leitura obrigatória para qualquer escuteiro

[Brendan Mcnamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was both uplifting and depressing. Uplifting in how it presents an incredible program for turning boys into men, yet depressing, in seeing how far scouts as an organization have fallen from the original vision. Lord Baden-Powell was an unapologetic man of the West. He saw in the American cowboy, the Canadian lumberjack, the English Knights Errant, or even, from other cultures, the Zulu warrior, characteristics of masculinity that could be channeled towards God and country. Baden-Powell believed that through boys tapping into the spirit of adventure, that virtue would follow, which would lead towards selflessness. BP's goal was to have an outdoor organization which attracted boys to it through fun games (and the games laid out in this book are *fun*) and through the structure of the organization, would instill morals into these boys. In a way, Scouts do this still today, but have changed into a more risk averse (BP was having scouts do jujitsu bouts and going off trail on long hikes) and more secular modernist organization, both of which dilute the power of what scouting can be. I recommend this book to all people considering leading a Boy Scout troop, who are thinking of creating a scout-like organization, or people generally interested in muscular Christianity... you will find lots of interesting concepts to chew on.

[Palsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

eh, ini kalo Indonesianya judulnya Kepanduan untuk Putera. Bukunya menarik sekali, ada gambar-gambar, tips & tricks dsb.
Ternyata jadi pandu itu gampang-gampang susah dan menyenangkan..heiehiehihi...teringat masa dulu waktu jadi Pinru nih...:)

[Keith Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is, as the title says, a manual in good (British and Imperial) citizenship for the period but also includes a means for a person to learn and teach a range of skills to do with the outdoors, observation, and recall. Citizenship focuses on manners, bravery, honesty, integrity, loyalty to one's country, and faith in God. The book is also full of stories that serve as examples of the value of the skills and values it teaches.

Today this book might be antiquated, some sections of it definitely are. Yet the skills are perennially useful and the book itself provides a window into a world that is largely forgotten now. If someone wanted they could set up a scout troop according to Baden-Powell's original instructions using this book. The result, however, would look pretty dramatically different as to what constitutes scouting today both in terms of ethos and praxis.

I originally picked this up because it was a book I heard talked about a lot but had little idea what it actually contained. I had once been involved in the scouts as a child and I was surprised by what I recognised, but equally surprised by what I didn't. Whilst a lot of the attitudes in this book would alarm progressive sensibilities I think the moral formation and character development that the book aspires to inculcate in young men is something that we could benefit from today.

[Charlotte Larsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a book, but a historical document. It's a book that sparked a worldwide movement that definitely influenced me growing up

The book reminds me of all the positive parts of scouting: love of the outdoors, being self-reliant, an upstanding citizen, dependable, honest. Kudos for the mentions of how girls can be just as good in a crisis.

The book is also a document of its time, colonialism, nationalism, militarism, sexism.
It was interesting to get a look at what colonialism looks like from the side of the colonizer.
Something that I'm wondering about after finishing this book is how scouting has developed since then. Which parts have been kept since this time? Which ideals do scouts hold today? Scouting in Sweden, as I experienced it, was without religion, but with its fair share of nationalism. Scouting in Germany seems in comparison very religious.

I guess indoctrination works, because I can't help but finish this review with the motto:
Ärlig, hjälpsam och göra sitt bästa.
Var redo! - Alltid redo!

[Ginebra Lavao Lizcano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like reading old books because it makes me see how similar and how different we are from people living in a time before mine. I always manage to get my assumptions somehow wronged and get surprised by ideas that I thought too revolutionary for the time (such as Baden-Powell's emphasis on a vegetarian diet!). This book is flawed if looked through the perspective of someone born my time, yet is packed with useful ideas and timeless values. Apart from learning some survival skills and the history of scouting, the main point of the book is to guide someone into leading a scout group through steps and techniques to follow. I am sure that anyone can learn from it regardless of what they do in life.

[Sebvand · Rating 4 out of 5]

This handbook is outdated, impractical and highly problematic (in many ways) for actual use. But I loved.

If you are interested in the history of the scouting movement, this definitely is the MOST interesting book out there. It gives a rich insight into the ideas that led to the spontaneous creation of a scouting movement. It also inspired me to do more challenging and more outdoor-oriented things with my scouts as a leader.

The foreword was excellent and really illuminated the motivations behind what BP wrote, as well as detailing the way Scouting for Boys was published and how the scouting movement arose as a result.

[Hania · Rating 4 out of 5]

pomimo tego, że było ABSOLUTNIE fantastyczne, nie dam 5/5, bo trochę mnie zmęczyła ta książka, ale wiem, że nie treścią tylko bardziej charakterem
jest fantastyczna - przepełniona mądrościami Bipi; pokazująca, że mimo wszystko harcerstwo wciąż jest i swoich podstaw, tak jak on je wykreował i działa na podobnych zasadach, chociaż jest unowocześnione oczywiście
znalazłam w książce kilka rzeczy, które zauważyłam u innych harcerzy nawet dzisiaj (chociażby wyszywanie numerów na chustach czy zawiązywanie supełków, jako przypomnienie o spełnieniu dobrego uczynku)
jestem
uważam, że jest to ważna lektura szczególnie dla przyszłego instruktora⚜️

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as it took me back to all the thigs I did as a Scout. Although published 70 years before I joined the Scouts, it was very close to all that we practised- in attitude, activity and self worth. It really reminded me of how the principles of scouting are so relevant today, as they were over 100 years ago if only we could get the kids distracted from their screens.

[Tuulia]

An interesting read for any scout or guide - scouting has mostly evolved to fit the values of present day but the original works still make it clear how the main central elements have stayed much the same. A good deal of criticism is needed for any reader: the world has changed in the past 114 years and a good number of historical events have taken place since.

[Ola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wspaniała książka, wiele się dowiedziałam, zrobiłam notatki i napewno wrócę do niej w przyszłości.
W niektórych fragmentach trzeba pamiętać, że jest to książka z ubiegłego wieku i część zachowań nie jest adekwatna do obecnych czasów.
Pomimo wszystko główna myśl, rady dla instruktorów, gry są ponadczasowe.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still contains ideas, particularly games, that we can use for our Troop. Interesting history of scouting's invention and retrospective history of people Baden Powell considered to be scouts avant la lettre, and charmingly of its time. I shall be a better leader for reading this!

[Luboš · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnes už „jen“ jako historický artefakt, než skutečná příručka (vysávání hadího jedu se už dnes nedoporučuje; stejně tak se dnes preferuje bezpečnost zachránce než nabádání k obětování života).

Měl jsem v ruce druhé vydání, které v sazbě trpí chybami s dělením slov.

[S. Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to understand Scouting, you have to read this book, which sparked the worldwide movement, still going strong today!

[Coraline · Rating 5 out of 5]

It contains everything you need to know about scouting.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book. Some of the ideas have aged due to the change in society over the last century.

Full of excellent ideas and trying to teach young people personal responsibility and skills.

[Mr David P Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Must be read with the time it was written in the forefront of your mind.

[Juan José · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro sobre la juventud y la vida al aire libre, fue para mi un manual de vida, pasar de pie tierno a un explorador