Alan Thompson, author of the poultry section of this book, kept poultry from the moment he left school. He obtained his technical knowledge at Harper Adams College and was Editor of the Poultry Farmer for 15 years. He also farmed livestock in Copthorne, Sussex, and his voice was familiar to all those who listened to the BBC poultry talks. Claude Goodchild, author of the rabbit section, spent the first 35 years of his life on an Essex farm and bred rabbits on a considerable scale from the age of 15. He later went on to run the largest rabbit farm of its time in England at Black Corner, near Crawley, Sussex. He started the Rex rabbit in England, was among the first to breed Chinchillas and visited Russia in an advisory capacity at the invitation of the Soviet Government.