This is a wonderful and revealing autobiography of an English country childhood, the decision to enter hunt service, and the author's experiences as he worked his way through an intensely hierarchical apprenticeship system that has changes little over the centuries. In England, in the 1960s, in the lowly position of second whipper-in at age 16, Robards learned about the hunt from celebrated huntsmen of the modern era. He ultimately achieved the ambition of all who enter hunt service-he became huntsman of a world-class pack of foxhounds in County Limerick, Ireland. Foxhunting in England, Ireland, and North America is packed with well-known hunting personalities, vivid hunting memories, and genuine hunting savvy.