Four weeks today, Inglorious – conflict in the uplands will be published by Bloomsbury.
Inglorious has a Foreword by Chris Packham that is hard-hitting and passionate and makes the rest of the book look rather meek and mild.
Inglorious starts with the Hen Harrier and its persecution by game interests, partly because many of us do start there. Then it rattles through a history of grouse shooting, where you may be surprised to learn that driven grouse shooting was frowned upon by ‘proper’ sportsmen in the mid-nineteenth century because of its unsporting nature. Chapter 3 deals with the important study of Hen Harriers and grouse bags at Langholm Moor which greatly clarified the reality of the conflict between Hen Harriers (and Peregrines) and the shooting of large numbers of Red Grouse for fun. Chapter 4 takes the story through the period from the end of the first Langholm study to the end of 2013 – a period during which it became clearer and clearer that intensive grouse moor management wasn’t in the public interest for a whole bunch of reasons unconnected with Hen Harriers or birds of prey. Chapter 5 deals with last year – arguably the year of the Hen Harrier (or maybe the birth of the Hen Harrier movement?) – I guess it’s a personal view of the year from the point of view of someone who was very much involved with parts of it, and a keen observer of others. Chapter 6 is different – as with the rest of the book you’ll either love it or hate it, but do please read it. And Chapter 7 is short and tells you how you can help to bring an end to driven grouse shooting if the book has persuaded you.
Foreword by Chris Packham
Chapter 1 – The harrier harried
Chapter 2 – A short history of grouse shooting
Chapter 3 Langholm – the end of the beginning
Chapter 4 The battle lines are drawn
Chapter 5 The beginning of the end – 2014
Chapter 6 The sunlit uplands
Chapter 7 End game
Inglorious is definitely a Marmite book. You will either love it or hate it. I’m expecting it to be lambasted in some places and praised in others. But it is intended as a serious contribution to the debates over land use in the UK. Driven grouse shooting is a major land use in terms of area and has impacts on all of us through our taxes, our water bills, our house insurance and the amount of wildlife we can see in the hills.
Simon Barnes is quoted on the jacket saying ‘This uncompromising book dares to ask the big question: whose countryside is it anyway?‘
Inglorious is published on 30 July and you can order it right now.
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As you will have already written Langholm part 2 only came about due to a certain man threatening SNH. The follow up management is a disgrace with heather the only species being encouraged. They now want to remove native trees!! No wonder they complain about raptors killing Red Grouse when they don’t encourage other species for them to prey on! £3.5 million of tax payers money down the drain and watch the harriers disappear once the 10 years are up!
Fascinating that the ‘Dislikes’ can’t even organise themselves enough to outvote the ‘Likes’ for such a momentous announcement….if that’s the best they can do, it’s little wonder they’re losing the battle.
What % of the profits are going to the cause?
Steve – what profits?