Customer Reviews

A Complete History of Fighting Dogs

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The best book on game dog breeds I have yet to read. The author's painstaking, thorough research into his subject matter pays off in a book that gives the reader all that they could ask for pertaining to fighting dogs, their origins, and history. An added bonus for me with this publication was that I didn't have to sift through any passive/aggressive ego-stroking, and/or personal politcal flavorings from the author that taint the digestion of information in other books of similar subject matter.(I.E. c. semencic)

Telling you like it was back in the "good" old days. I've read a lot of books on the pitbull terrier and this is by far the best one. It has tons of old pictures and prints that I've never seen before. It is a complete history with accounts of bull~baiting, bear~baiting, lion~baiting, and of course dog~fighting. He doesn't sugarcoat anything, sometimes the dogs were simply over~matched and he tells it. A must have for the pitbull historian, I highly reccomend it.

Excellent book! --- I highly recommend it. The historical pictures alone are worth the price of the book. The author has certainly done his research and it shows. The only problem I have is the title; somewhat misleading.

The bulk of the text as well as the pictures is centered on the history of the Staffordshire Terrier and its cousins. This lavishly illustrated book paints a colorful portrait of a venerable canine warrior --- A must read!

You will get exactly what you pay for in this book: a good education in the history of fighting dogs. From Lion Baiting to Ratting this book covers it all and will give you an understanding of the forces that shaped the grand fighting breeds we have today, like the noble American Pit Bull Terrier.

Factually this book is highly enlightening and enjoyable to read.I was riveted at the first person narratives and inside jokes of the dog pits.My only complaint is that Mike loses track of himself towards the last three chapters and leaves the reader hanging for more at the end.I would love to see more books by this author and maybe a revised version of this book with a better conclusion.

As a writer of dog books, I read a lot of 'em--and am impressed by few. What a pleasure to read one that reflects original research, all presented in an interesting and esthetic manner. You don't have to be fighting dog lover to find this book interesting; of course, if you are, then you have no excuse to not be hitting the "buy" button right now!

Factually this book is highly enlightening and enjoyable to read.I was riveted at the first person narratives and inside jokes of the dog pits.My only complaint is that Mike loses track of himself towards the last three chapters and leaves the reader hanging for more at the end.I would love to see more books by this author and maybe a revised version of this book with a better conclusion.

...but all in all a good read. It puts fighting dogs in their proper historical context. The world was not always as warm and fuzzy as it is modern day America. People often lived tough, grusome lives and whiled away their time with tough, grusome 'sport'. But like any dark cloud in human history, it has a silver lining - the modern day pit bull - an animal with a heart as courgeous as any beast that ever lived. Some of the descriptions in the book are a bit repulsive; but whenever I glance at my 'dudley' nosed dog, I feel a sense of pride to know the type of stock he comes from - a tough fighter that will never shrink from the task before him.