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Product Description
Product Description
This is a highly original, profusely illustrated, and well researched account of deer parks. With humility and respect Fletcher touches on errors commonly made by archaeologists and historians, taking issue with long held theories while drawing on his lifetime working with deer to formulate plausible explanations as to, for example, why they were not domesticated until the 20th century, how parks evolved from haga and elricks, why deer parks were created throughout Eurasia, why fallow so rapidly ousted red deer from medieval British parks, and much more. He ranges from meat sharing amongst chimpanzees to the symbolism of venison as the elite product of hunting, ensconced within seven centuries of the English Royal Warrant, through the 300 year long prohibition on its sale within England and the continuing illegality of selling hunted venison within the USA, the aristocratic pursuit of park breaking, and the imposition of the Black Act. He stresses the cross-cultural importance of rulers being seen to hunt, compares ancient Chinese parks, the colossal Asian ring hunts, and the water hunts of Germany as expressions of man's urge to contain deer. Within Britain, which has for a thousand years held more deer parks than any other part of the world, he describes how deer were fed, transported, enclosed, captured, castrated and housed, and how they were hunted in the confines of parks. The recent theory as to the use of trenches for handling deer in medieval Scotland is explored. The international symbolism of white deer, collared deer and enclosed deer is discussed. Recently, parks provided deer for English carted hunts and Scottish sporting estates; now we recognise their ecological and recreational value. We learn how parklands may be our spiritual home - the environment in which we are most content - and that parks have always been, in a fashion, designed landscapes.
About the Author
John Fletcher is a specialist deer vet who took a PhD from Cambridge on the breeding behaviour of deer. He has, over many years, established a worldwide reputation in the behaviour, biology and practical management of deer especially in parks and on farms. His last book explored several historical theories and he has now developed these into a significant contribution to the history of deer parks.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
This book is about deer but so much more. The whole of human history is here, from the Lascaux Cave to Chinese Emperors to modern ecological farming. It's a fascinating tale, vividly told and beautifully illustrated, of our intimate relationship with an animal that we've chosen to bring close to us but also, uniquely, to keep wild. Fletcher, in this highly original study, explores the complex nature of our relationship with these beautiful animals. He does so from the basis of intimate familiarity - he's been a deer farmer and vet all his working life. The result is a book that is at once deeply felt but also intellectually stimulating. The pages smell of the forest, close-grazed pastures and freshly gathered ivy but they also affords so many fresh insights into human history. It is like looking in at humanity from the wild side. A remarkable book.
Julian Spalding
Julian Spalding
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A detailed and scholarly history of deer parks, from their role as hunting grounds of medieval nobility to modern-day visitor attractions at country-house properties.
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