Faithful to the breed

SOME YEARS AGO, I had what I thought was a great idea for a book. To be called A Field Guide to  Europe’s Gundogs, it was to be a wide-ranging tome on the 50 or so breeds of gundog we have in Europe.

I sent an outline proposal to a well-known publisher of sporting books and received a speedy reply. “We like your proposal and are sure it would make an interesting book. However, general books on gundogs never sell — people only want to buy