Dogs may be man's best friend, but every friendship is different. Prepare to meet Nicholas, a gregarious Airedale whose arrival in a moneyed Long Island home unleashes complete and total chaos throughout the neighbourhood. Verdun Belle, the lady of the title, is a silky-eared spaniel whose loyalty - and litter of puppies - rallies an entire American regiment fighting on the Western Front during the First World War. Then there's Egon, a large - very large - German Shepherd, accustomed to summering on the Côte d'Azur, and to managing the diaries and daily activities of his human charges, whether they want him to or not.

This charmingly illustrated collection of three delightful stories, rediscovered after decades out of print, shows our canine companions in all their guises: comic, heroic, companionable.