The Book of Dragons, Volume 1

Albert Payson Terhune's story of Bruce, the collie, who starts out life as an ugly, ungainly type and grows up not only beautiful, but incredibly smart. Bruce protects The Mistress from evildoers and becomes a decorated war hero (WWI) before returning to The Home Place for a leisurely retirement amid the lovely trees and lakes.

Bruce's story is told from the dog's perspective as well as the Master's. We join in the adventures as well as share in a few sorrows. One of Terhune's best that will bring a smile as well as a tear.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 - The Coming of Bruce
Chapter 2 - The Pest
Chapter 3 - The War Dog
Chapter 4 - When Eyes Were No Use
Chapter 5 - The Double Cross
Chapter 6 - The Werewolf

AUTHOR
Albert Payson Terhune (1872 - 1942) was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of two writers, his Father also a prominent minister. Terhune had great success in two endeavors, writing and dog breeding.

Originally a journalist, Terhune turned his family's summer home into a successful Collie breeding Kennel and devoted himself to writing fiction, mostly dog-themed.

Quotes about Bruce
i really enjoyed reading bruce again. it is a simple book told from the dogs perspective mostly, and all the more interesting, and different for it. told in language understandable to an older young reader, it won't put an adult asleep either. plenty of action here about bruce the collie's wartime career. the author owned 10 collies of his own, and it shows in his empathy, and understanding of his central character bruce. the story of bruce will be loved by all dog lovers for generations to come! (Amazon.com)

This was a wonderful story of Bruce, who was born as a 'second', not originally of show quality, but who found a home with the Master and Mistress after a difficult start. The book starts with the story of a young boy who adopts Bruce's mother with his birthday money. The parents do not approve of the purchase because the dog is female (I don't understand what the problem was with female dogs in that era?) and the father works to get rid of the dog much to the heartbrake of the son. Bruce's mother is accidently shipped as a show dog to the Master and Mistress and has a litter of just 1 - Bruce.

Eventually Bruce's mother is returned to the young boy, but Bruce remains with the Master and Mistress who grow to love him and even rescue him from a ""doctor"" who wants to perform experiments on him. Bruce is put into commission as a courier dog in WWI and much of the story focuses on his adventures in the war. I learned a lot about these war dogs through this book and have much appreciation for the service they provided to their human soldiers. I was surprised that the book turned out to be about Bruce and not his mother, but it was a wonderful story, I recommend it to any dog lover or even WWI enthusiast. (Amazon.com)
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