Bestseller of the 1980s and a groundbreaking inspiration for a generation of young people dreaming of an alternative lifestyle: Helen and Scott Nearing were role models for thousands seeking a path away from prescribed life routes and imposed values. They protested with their entire lives against war as a means of resolving conflicts, against environmental destruction, against the throwaway society and its consumption, and against a system of social and economic discrimination. In 1930s America, there was no place for people like Helen and Scott. Instead of resigning themselves to the state of the world and accepting the impending Second World War as a necessary evil, they passionately advocated for a world without wars, exploitation, and child labor. In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, they decided to put their ideas of a good life into practice.