Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man

Rating:
Summary: Rural England a hundred years ago
Review: The orphaned writer leads us lanquidly through his legacy-supported life. Days are filled with cricket, horses and fox hunting but they soon become distant memories for him as he becomes a cavalry officer in the Great War. We leave him there, before the conflict is ended, as he continues to paint a picture of rural England at the turn of the this century. Ideal millennium reading, perhaps!

P.S.This is a classic English work and, as such, is readily available in the UK so I am surprised that you have it as out-of-print. It is Part 1 of a trilogy which I should have read for school exams 30 years ago but only, finally, got round to in June 1999

Rating:
Summary: A touching glimpse of rural England
Review: This beautifully written account of a well-to-do youth growing up in sleepy rural England in the years leading upto and including the Great War. Siegfried Sasson was one of the finest poets of the Great War, which he experienced first hand (he famously threw his medal into the sea in disgust at the war), however he only touches on the war in this book -- the incredible restraint just adds pogniancy though. I was deeply moved by this book (and Siefrieds war poetry). The book, perhaps somewhat autobiographical(?) describes in some detail the growth of a young rider into an accomplished hunter. There is also some interesting insight into early golf and cricket. While Fox-hunting may not interest some (indeed it is now scorned my many) -- do not let that deter you from reading this excellent book. The book captures, accurately I think, the flavor of rural Britain -- and the relationships that grow up regardless of class in many English villages (the English country village was in many ways the ideal community -- perhaps a model for the world to adopt). This is a wonderful book intended for anybody and everybody -- not just fox hunters.