THE RABBIT. By Jill Mason.

2015 1st edition. 4to (195 x 252mm). Pp192. Colour photographs by David Mason, b/w illustrations, yellow end-papers. Green boards, spine titled in gilt.

Jill Mason puts the currently under-rated wild rabbit back into context. With beautiful photographic illustrations by David Mason, she explains its lifecycle, its behaviour, breeding, feeding habits, its influence on the UK economy, landscape and eco-system and, above all, its incredible adaptability and resourcefulness, which brings the species back from the brink of extinction to pest proportions again and again, in all corners of the earth, from semi-desert to meadowland. Included is a previously unpublished reference section on the sites of the UK's former commercial rabbit warrens. Chapters include: The natural history of the rabbit; Wild rabbits around the world; Rabbits in the UK; Rabbit diseases; Rabbits in sport; Methods for control; Culinary matters; Rabbits in myth, legend, fiction and art; History of warrens; The rabbit fur industry; Rabbit warrens - law and punishment; Location of historic warrens.