The Running Foxes is a beautiful, nostalgic depiction of life in rural England during the 1960s, as related by the local people, their dogs, and the foxes they hunt together. Jasper is an old man, who lives alone with his terrier and his cat, and is too elderly for the hunt (which is done on foot in this village, not on horseback). One day he spots a wily vixen and her two cubs, and decides to get back at the hunt by hiding their presence. Over time, he watches the cunning foxes with appreciation and gradually gains more allies for his unofficial fox-preservation cause. Meanwhile, the vixen teaches her two pups to hunt and survive on their own as they grow up into adulthood. A moving account of the gentle tyranny of time passing by.

Recommended for those who like wistful fiction about the past and/or rural society, as well as those who appreciate animal fiction such as Big Red, The Incredible Journey, Bambi, and especially James Herriot's books which have a similar atmosphere.

Tissue Alert!: If you're the kind of person (like me) who cried when the dog dies in things like Where the Red Fern Grows or Old Yeller, this book may make you cry. But it's so worth it. ( )

The Running Foxes is a novel about the people and animal inhabitants of a fictional English community. You come to know the individuals from the Cumbrian fells area, their trials and successes, their families and their stock, but mostly about the relationship between the men and their hounds.

Think of this as sort of "All Creatures Great and Small", but from the perspective of the farmers, innkeepers and small holders of 1950s rural England.

This is a delightful book and was a joy to reread, as I had read it many years ago, shortly after it was published in the 1960s. ( )