Gamekeeping: An Illustrated History

David Jones has written a fascinating and comprehensive book on the history of gamekeeping from the inception of the profession in the late seventeenth century to the present day. He writes about all aspects of gamekeeping with chapters on training, pay, cottages, gamekeepers in wartime, loaders and loading, lady gamekeepers, gamekeeping throughout the UK and Ireland and also overseas, especially in the days of the British empire. There is a fascinating section on the moorland gamekeeper which includes the memories of George Grass of Ramsgill. Gamekeeping not only contains a large selection of historic illustrations depicting the gamekeeper’s work but also draws on oral and written testimonies from gamekeepers, contemporary newspaper cuttings and extracts from historic documents. With its comprehensive coverage and wealth of stunning illustrations, this book offers a unique insight into gamekeeping and provides an accurate record of gamekeeping in times past, something often neglected by other authors who have painted a much rosier picture of the gamekeeper’s life in bygone days, rather than a truthful one based on hard facts.