OUTSIDE DAYS: MORE ADVENTURES WITH ROD AND GUN. By Max Hastings.

(1989) 1995 revised edition. 8vo (158 x 240mm). Ppviii,260. B/w illustrations by William Geldart, pictorial end-papers. Black boards, spine titled in gilt.

"In revisiting Outside Days for a new edition, I considered and then resisted the temptation to alter or add to the existing chapters to reflect second thoughts, or changes in my own circumstances. I have simply added six new chapters, written since the first edition was published. And, perhaps most significant, I have wholly rewritten my concluding chapter 'A future for field sports'. Plainly, the perspective has altered since I wrote the original version in 1988, and not for the better. It seems useful to review the new situation". (From the author's preface to this 1995 revised and extended edition)". In this selection of gentle, contemplative musings, Max Hastings shares some of his favourite rural moments; tramping the snipe bogs of Waterford; dogging hedges in Hampshire and moors in Sutherland; casting a fly from Scotland to Iceland and Alska; and shooting in India and the west of Ireland". "Adventure makes the best dreams, whether tiger-fishing in Zimbabwe or crawling alone, rifle-armed and belly-flat, along a Scottish mountainside in winter, the essential physical endeavour and solitude are contained in these accounts of the author's days outdoors". (Country Life). Contents include:- Great expectations; Paternal blessings; Scottish idylls; Pointing and setting; 'Wind him in, then!'; The art of the possible; Not exactly Halford; Ireland in the rough; Limited rods; Running away to the river bank; Smoked salmon for breakfast; High days and by-days; A few arguments for fox hunting; A taste of Alaska; Confessions to a gamebook; Not so pukka sahibs; Porridge and kippers; Grouse fever; The sporting wife; Low water; In praise of the yeoman dog; A stalk without a stalker; The Tweed 'auxiliary'; Guineas and tigers; Duck soup; Long Pond; Last cast on Dal Harrald; A shoot in the shires; Bag and baggage; The men of La Mancha; Hit and miss in Argyll; On Highland gillies; Reflections on a December pheasant peg; Chancing a snipe; Literary diversions; Erratic performers; Unsporting occasions; Chasing the 'cock; Back-end day; A future for field sports.