31 JANUARY 1941, Page 24

The Young Shot. By N. M. Sedgwick. (Black, 7s. 6d.)

Tins is a very sensible and well-put-together guide to the pleasures of shooting, as well suited to instruct the adult who is just taking to shooting as it is to shape the shooting habits of a boy or girl. Mr. Sedgwick's advice is strictly practical, having been gained, as it should be, in the field, and is not coloured by those provoking theories, so fascinating to the expert, on ballistics and generally so misleading to the beginner, to which less conscientious writers on shooting topics too frequently descend. Every good sportsman is to some extent a practical natural historian, and one of the most admirable qualities of this book is its insistence on the necessity of a minute and expert understanding of the phenomena of the countryside. The merits of shooting or sparing the animals and birds which are commonly classed as vermin are very sensibly discussed, and there are useful hints on shooting in snow and in floods. Mt. Sedgwick's prose does not possess the graces of that of the great writers on shooting, but it is clear, methodical and with- out stylistic embellishments, and his book admirably achieves what it sets out to do.