Saluki: The Desert Hound and the English Travelers Who Brought It to the West(Dogs in Our World)

One of the oldest known breeds of domesticated dogs, the Saluki traveled throughout the Middle East with desert tribes, who valued the dogs for their ability to hunt gazelles. Famously painted on the walls of the Pharaohs' tombs, the Salukis' history intrigued English dog enthusiasts who were instrumental in popularizing the breed and importing it to Europe and the United States in the early 20th century. This book tells the story of those who brought the Saluki to the West, most notably Florence Amherst, who discovered the dogs while in Egypt and went on to breed 50 litters. Other world travelers who fell under the Salukis' spell included Lady Anne Blunt, Austen Layard and Gertrude Bell. Also covered are lesser-known Saluki aficionados, mainly military officers who hunted with their hounds in Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt and sought to replicate that experience at home.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Acknowledgments Foreword by Paul L. Hedren Preface A Note to the Reader Prologue 1: Judge Bacon’s Daughter • Tail Piece: The ­Havelock-Hollywood-Custer Connection 2: That Custer Boy • Tail Piece: A Cadet and His Dog 3: Armstrong Ascendant • Tail Piece: P.T. Barnum’s Civil War Dog Show 4: My Husband’s Dogs • Tail Pieces: The Sporting Ritual of Foxhunting in America • Slave Tracking and Prison Guard Dogs 5: The Texas Pack • Tail Pieces: Libbie Custer and Persian Greyhounds—Two Degrees of Separation • Dogs as Property in the 19th Century 6: Kansas—Hunting Game and Chasing Indians • Tail Pieces: Scotch Stag Hounds and Chinese Edible Dogs—Victorian Breed Terminology • Army Dogs: Birth, Sutures and Death 7: Kansas and Indian Territory: Bloody Snow • Tail Piece: Did Armstrong Kill His Own Dogs at Washita? 8: The Tourist Hunters • Tail Piece: Plagiarizing Lord Byron • Barnum and the Grand Hoboken Buffalo Hunt  9: Blue Grass, Pvt. Burkman, and the Grand Duke Alexis • Tail Piece: Russian Wolfhounds Emigrate to America 10: Paw Prints on the Yellowstone • Tail Piece: Sir St. George Gore’s Greyhounds Populate the West • Sighthounds vs. Antelope 11: Fort Lincoln and the Black Hills • Tail Piece: California Joe and His Custer Hound • Tailless Dogs 12: The Last Dog Deals and the March to Little Bighorn • Tail Piece: Custer’s First Stand 13: Dog Rumors and the Last Stand Hoax • Tail Piece: Rusty’s Improbable History 14: The Widow Custer’s Burden Epilogue: Custer’s Last Hound Appendix: General Custer’s Dogs in Art, Literature and Film Chapter Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Brian Patrick Duggan is a canine historian and author of several books and numerous articles about dogs in history. He is a retired university technology educator and an American Kennel Club judge.

Review :
“outstanding”—The Midwest Book Review; “one of the most detailed, elaborate and curious dog books I have had the privilege to read in a very long time. It is not a single-focus breed book, neither is it a trumped-up recitation of old-school history lessons, or a name-dropper’s Who’s Who. Rather, imagine a book for an easy chair and rainy day...a story that you will fly through the first time, but return to over and over, to uncover even more nuggets of treasure that continue to entice long after they have been first enjoyed”—The Sighthound Magazine; “breathing life into this diverse group of enthusiasts...and their salukis...is the work of this well-researched volume. It is a fascinating journey from the time the sun never set on the British Empire to the darkness of World War II. The photographs are wonderful as well.”—Jane Waldron Grutz, Saudi Aramco World; “Duggan...has done so thorough and readable a job as to render any further book on the subject unnecessary. Populated by dozens of compelling characters, including T. E. Lawrence (the enigmatic Lawrence of Arabia), Saluki is the product of 14 years of research made vivid by the author’s skills as a storyteller”—AKC Gazette; “a masterful work and I am tremendously impressed with the amount of research that went into it”—George H.V. Cecil, Chairman, Biltmore Farms LLC; “a welcome addition...by chronicling their [British officers] stories you add to the broader picture of British activity in the Middle East”—Zahra Dickson Freeth, author of Kuwait Was My Home