ENDANGERED SPECIES: FOXHUNTING - THE HISTORY, THE PASSION AND THE FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL. By Michael Clayton.

(2004) 2005 revised reprint. 8vo (159 x 241mm). Ppxvi,316. B/w photographs, illustrations, end-paper maps, bibliography. Blue boards, spine titled in gilt.

"The plight of foxhunting people as an 'endangered species' became acute on 18th November 2004 when the rarely used Parliament Act was used to ram through a complete ban on hunting with hounds in England and Wales... As former editor of Horse and Hound for twenty-two years, [Michael Clayton] includes a revelatory insider's account of the political battles to save hunting right up to the final Commons debate, amid the high drama of protestors invading the House of Commons while thousands jeered outside. A life-long fox-hunter, Clayton provides in detail the story of the sport's survival throughout the tumultuous twentieth-century, with authoritative chapters on hounds and horses, and colourful memories of the sport's leading huntsmen and Masters, their achievements and eccentricities. His hunting correspondent tours as 'Foxford' to over 200 packs, including extensive hunting in the USA and Canada, add much to his remarkable account of the foxhunting world which will reward hunting enthusiasts and many other lovers of the countryside on both sides of the Atlantic." Entertaining and informative. Chapters include: Foreword by Alastair Jackson, Director, Masters of Foxhounds Association; Setting for survival; Scarlet Edwardians; The first test; 'Twenties and 'Thirties; Survival above all; Hound and horse; The endangered fox; Some hunstmen; foxhunting in the US, Canada and Australia; Foxhunting with Foxford; Image of war. Appendices are: List of hunts in the UK and Ireland; List of hunts in the USA, Canada and Australia.