Outside Days

Max Hastings is best known as an acclaimed journalist and military historian. But what is perhaps less well known is his love of the countryside and its pursuits, above all fishing and shooting, which he indulges as often as he can escape his urban working environment. In this classic selection of gentle, contemplative musings, Max Hastings shares some of his favourite rural moments; tramping the snipe bogs of Waterford; dogging hedges in Hampshire and moors in Sutherland; casting a fly from Scotland to Iceland and Alaska; and shooting in India and the west of Ireland. Combining a journalist's knack for storytelling with the enthusiasm of the dedicated amateur, Outside Days is the perfect companion for anyone who revels in the freedom of the outdoors.

Sir Max Hastings, author of numerous books including Armageddon, Going to the Wars, and Das Reich, was editor of the Daily Telegraph for almost a decade, then for six years he edited the Evening Standard. In his youth he was a foreign correspondent for newspapers and BBC television. He has won many awards for his books and journalism, particularly his work in the South Atlantic in 1982. He is a country boy at heart and he enjoys fishing and shooting as often as he can escape to the great outdoors. He was knighted in 2002 for services to journalism.

Introduction - i: Introduction Chapter - 1: Great expectations Chapter - 2: Paternal blessings Chapter - 3: Scottish idylls Chapter - 4: Pointing and setting Chapter - 5: 'Wind him in, then!' Chapter - 6: The art of the possible Chapter - 7: Not exactly Halford Chapter - 8: Ireland in the rough Chapter - 9: Limited rods Chapter - 10: Running away to the river bank Chapter - 11: Smoked salmon for break fast Chapter - 12: High days and by-days Chapter - 13: A few arguments for fox hunting Chapter - 14: A taste of Alaska Chapter - 15: Confessions to a gamebook Chapter - 16: Not so pukka sahibs Chapter - 17: Porridge and kippers Chapter - 18: Grouse fever Chapter - 19: The sporting wife Chapter - 20: In praise of the yeoman dog Chapter - 21: A stalk without a stalker Chapter - 22: The Tweed 'auxiliary' Chapter - 23: Guineas and tigers Chapter - 24: Duck soup Chapter - 25: Long Pond Chapter - 26: A shoot in the shires Chapter - 27: Bag and baggage Chapter - 28: Hit and miss in Argyll Chapter - 29: Reflections on a December pheasant peg Chapter - 30: Chancing a snipe Chapter - 31: Literary diversions Chapter - 32: Unsporting occasions Chapter - 33: Back-end day Chapter - 34: A future for field sports