The Wild Host : The History and Meaning of the Hunt - Hardcover

Rupert Isaacson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0304359246 ISBN 13: 9780304359240

Publisher: Cassell Illustrated, 2001

Synopsis

Hunting is one of the most fundamental and significant of human social activities. Yet few issues can guarantee such controversy and such a dramatic popularisation of opinion. In this, the first full serious history of the subject for a generation, Rupert Isaacson puts hunting for live prey in its proper historical and social perspective. Isaacson's unique perspective as both practitioner and critic, his refusal to fudge the moral and ethical issues and his scrupulous fairness to both sides of the debate make this book both a beautiful record of one of the most enduring and complex of all human instincts and an essential contribution to the modern political controversy over hunting to hounds.

About this title

About the Author:

Rupert Isaacson lives in Austin, Texas. He is well-known to the foxhunting community through his regularly featured hunting articles in Hunting and Country Illustrated magazines published in the UK. He is a full time travel and environmental writer specializing in Africa.

From Library Journal:

A fox-hunting enthusiast and travel and environmental writer, Isaacson (Southern Africa on the Wild Side) presents both an informative and lavishly illustrated history of "the cult and legend of The Wild Hunt" (or Wild Host, or Furious Host) and a thoughtful discussion of the present and future role of the hunt. Beginning with the prehistoric hunter-gatherer ritual of the "sacred chase," Isaacson examines in detail the evolving stages of the practice of hunting. In the process, he examines some intriguing connections between the practices of such hunting cultures as the San (Bushmen) of the Kalahari and the Cree of northern Quebec and present-day, highly formalized versions of the hunt. Isaacson opens his investigation with a question: "Is there still a place for such an arcane many would say barbaric ritual in our modern world?" Although his consideration of the question is both balanced and nonconfrontational, his closing reflections reveal where his sympathies lie: "Formalized and ritualized as hunting has become, it is still very much a part of this symbiotic relationship between man and the planet on which he relies." Recommended for public and academic libraries. Robert C. Jones, Central Missouri State Univ., Warrensburg
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cassell Illustrated
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0304359246
• ISBN 13: 9780304359240
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 296