Books

Richard Jefferies (1848-87) remains one of the most thoughtful and most lyrical writers on the English countryside. The Amateur Poacher is a collection of reminiscences of a rural way of life which by the 1870s was beginning to undergo a period of rapid change.

"The following pages are arranged somewhat in the order of time, beginning with the first gun, and attempts at shooting.  Then come the fields, the first hills, and woods explored, often without a gun, or any thought of destruction; and next the poachers, and other odd characters observed at their work. Perhaps the idea of shooting with a matchlock, or wheel-lock, might, if put into practice, at least afford some little novelty."

That is the modest description of his classic book that Richard Jefferies made when it was first published.  Since then the book has become established as a favourite of countrylovers and shooters, one of the treasures of sporting literature.

Hardback.