A lucky soul indeed, is how Edward Miller, who spent 46 years in the gun trade, describes anyone infected with ‘goose fever’.

In this lively memoir, he conveys the passion for wildfowling that gets sane people out of bed long before first light, to walk miles across dangerous tidal flats in the depths of a winter dawn, to lie flat in damp sand for hours, waiting for that evocative beat of wings to pass overhead.

Every chapter in Geese! is full of interest, amusement and advice. Camouflage, the techniques of goose-calling, how to recognise flight lines, choice of gun, what to wear, where to stay, how to behave and how to avoid overshooting, are all topics covered, right down to cooking wildfowl, including a mouth-watering stuffing of wild mushrooms and seashore blackberries.

The instructional index at the end of the book is an invaluable instant reference for the wildfowler.