This book was written by a veteran of the civil war for those who are interested in camping out.  He takes you step by step through the different types of camping - single day hiking, camping with a party on foot and with horses and wagons, etc. as well as how to build shelters, what to bring, all kinds of useful hints and tips that are still of use today. Of course, the information is sometimes dated, but it's interesting none-the-less.  I actually laughed out loud when he described how to camp with a group of men.  He lists the names of 12 made-up men and distributes the "chores" amongst them explaining how to be a leader on this type of camping.  He explains that you have to assign jobs for each person at the beginning of the trip and see who has what aptitude and interest in those jobs. After a few days, you reassess and reassign.  When he gets to the explanation of the results and lists those men again and what their (hypothetical) jobs actually might end up being after shifting around, I laughed when he described one man as useless and one who didn't like camping and went home. I think that even if you are not an outdoorsy person you would still find it interesting to read about what someone from that era thought was important to share with his readers.