Greyhound Nation

Edmund Russell’s detailed account of greyhounds and the people involved with them provides an intriguing analysis of how historical forces shaped the traits of a human and non-human population. Arranged chronologically, Russell uses greyhounds in England as his case-study due to their long and documented history, arguing that greyhounds and humans evolved and co-evolved, that is, evolved in response to each other. Spanning a period of time from 1200 to 1900, he contends that a number of forces, including politics, economics and technology shaped the traits of greyhounds as well as the opportunities and social roles of their owners. By demonstrating that ‘evolution and history are two facets of the same coin’ (p. ix), Russell reveals that the view of breeds as uniform and static entities is a recent phenomenon, making many of our fundamental assumptions about breeds and their histories false. Beginning with what Russell terms the Patrician Coevolution, the second chapter explores the longest period of time from 1200 to 1776; a time that was marked by who could legally own a greyhound. This leads to a transitional period from 1776 to 1831 (chs. 3 and 4) in which Russell describes transformations to patrician and greyhound populations during a period of rapid social change. Chapters Five, Six, and Seven explore the period 1831–1900, and specifically the evolution of coursing and dog shows after a change in game laws allowed anyone to own a greyhound

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