Book excerpt: This book, Colonel Hancock's eighth, is about lurchers, the hunting dog of the humbler hunters. It covers not just the origins, uses, structure, breeding advice, blend of breeds and foreign counterparts, but the wide patronage of these hybrid talented hounds. Lavishly illustrated it covers many aspects of the lurcher scene for the first time. It is not a manual dealing with feeding, training, health concerns and rearing. It is a book for the hunter, the person more interested in what the lurcher does. No previous book has covered comparable hunting dogs abroad so fully; no other book on lurchers evaluates so deeply the value of the breeds contributing to this hybrid hound. AUTHOR: Colonel David Hancock MBE (not to be confused with the renowned lurcher breeder) has been studying dogs for over fifty years. He retired from the Army in 1983 when he became Director of the National Trust's Shugborough Estate. He has written a number of very successful books including The Mastiffs - The Big Game Hunters, now in its sixth edition. He judges working terriers and working tests for gundogs. He is a regular contributor to Country Life, The Field, Countryman's Weekly and Dogs Today. SELLING POINTS: *No previous book covers comparable hunting dogs worldwide *Sets out the essential physical and mental characteristics which make a successful lurcher REVIEWS 'Perhaps the most important living writer about dogs' a reviewer has described Colonel Hancock Colour throughout