Humor and overall literary style have changed a lot in the 132 years since this book was published in 1889. However, the information remains informative, primarily because there is a certain amount of truthfulness about it that manages to disregard the passage of time. It takes in some unusual events that either did happen, or could have. It involves three men and a dog that is sometimes smarter than any of them. Between them, they come up with some depth of thought and at least a minor ability to understand human nature.

No real claim is made that the story teaches any particular lessons, good, bad, or indifferent, and veracity occasionally strays in unexpected directions. Of course, that’s to be expected when you realize the foursome, which naturally includes the dog, have no more, maybe less, poetic values than the rest of us. How you might have reacted in some of their occasional zany escapades is up to you to decide. In any case, we invite you to hear about what at least part of England was like almost a century and a half ago.