The 7th edition, the one on the left, is from when I was a boy. The
9th edition, the one on the right, is from when I was a Scoutmaster and a
Boy Scout dad. I have seen other editions, and IMHO these two are the
most solid, most useful, and best written, but my bias is clear.
The journalist and author Peter Applebome wrote a book,
Scout's Honor, about his experiences as a Boy Scout dad.
Being a reporter and a problem-solver at heart, he takes a long, hard
look at what Scouting could be (and should be), compares it to what it
is, and makes several really good recommendations for fixing Scouting.
One of the most interesting things he says is that the Scout Oath and
the Scout Law, the moral foundations for Scouting (in the U.S.A.), are
rock-solid and it would be a very good thing if all boys (and men!) lived
by those tenets. He also says (either himself, or quoting someone) that
the Boy Scout Handbook, any edition, is just the kind of "advice to
boys" that people have been longing to give to boys today.
