Blood Sport: Hunting in Britain since 1066

by Emma Griffin

Nearly a decade of fiercely divisive debate over foxhunting in Britain culminated with passage of the Hunting with Dogs Act of 2004. But the battle over the future of hunting is not yet resolved, and polarizing right-or-wrong debates continue undiminished. This lively book recounts the long and colorful history of hunting in Britain and offers a fresh perspective on today’s conflicts. Since William the Conqueror declared wild animals royal property and thereby provoked a burning hatred among his subjects, hunting of all kinds has been a source of social conflict in Britain. The sport is deeply entwined with questions of land and power, class divisions, and social mores. Blood Sport explores these large themes, brings them alive with surprising details and vignettes, and considers how hunting traditions have affected British national identity. Bringing the discussion fully up to date, the book concludes with a thought-provoking critique of current hunting controversies.

Genres: Cultural, Ecology, History

296 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 2007

Reviews

[KiplingKat · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I was disappointed that there was not more in depth information on the techniques of hunting available just after the Conquest (and it sounds like that was due simply to the lack of primary sources on the matter, not the scholarship of the author), I was nonetheless impressed by the approach to what may seem like an obscure topic to many outside of Britain or the hunting community. With meticulous research in an engagingly written prose, this book shows how and why hunting in England has always been a political hot potato to the point of sometimes being one of the driving forces in political change. For those interested in English history, I heartily recommend it.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this captivating, and as one who has hunted but now is repulsed by blood sports felt like I'd got a good grasp of the appeal, the significant, the corruption of hunting from the hunter against the prey in its habitat to the absurdity of hordes of people chasing small dog-like creature across the countryside. She also does a good job of unpacking the pro-hunt lobby in early 21st century Britain.

[Christopher Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather off-beat topic that I found interesting for about half the book (I didn't finish it). It became, I found, quite repetitive after a while with similar discussions about the management and shifting ownership of the forests over centuries as the regimes changed. Particularly fascinating were descriptions of the very early hunting practices from Roman times to the Middle Ages as Britain became its present format. In my edition, very small font made for dense reading and only in bright light.