Killing for Sport: Essays by Various Writers
1915
A bracing, argument-driven collection that takes aim at the blood sports of Edwardian Britain, this volume assembles moral philosophers, reformers, and intellectuals to dismantle the justifications for hunting. George Bernard Shaw opens with a preface of characteristic ferocity, challenging readers to confront the pleasure they take in creatures' deaths. The essays that follow are precise instruments: Henry S. Salt dissects the self-deceptions of sportsmen, E.B. Lloyd catalogs the devastation of wildlife populations, and others anatomize the class economics that prop up fox hunting and the game laws. What elevates these pieces beyond mere polemic is their refusal to sentimentalize. They argue with cold logic and empirical evidence, making the moral case that killing for amusement cannot be defended. A century old, this collection remains startling in its clarity and its willingness to name cruelty where it sees it.
