Walking sticks have had a bad press. For too long the walking stick has been portrayed as a workaday item of codgerism, a simple support for the aged and infirm.

This is not the case. Possession of a walking stick opens up a whole gamut of opportunities beyond the simple 'leaning against' purpose. In 49 Uses for A Walking Stick Frank Hopkinson explains the variety of practical uses a walking stick can be put to, from flicking filthy slugs off a lawn and parting crowds to alerting a theatre-goer two rows in front that his rapid consumption of fruit bonbons is ruining everyone's enjoyment.

Illustrated throughout, the book also includes a miscellany of walking stick trivia, facts and figures and fun information.

Frank Hopkinson is a photographer with a wide variety of commissions in books, websites and magazines. His most recent work for Pavilion Books has been for Puerto Rico Then and Now, Savannah Then and Now, Brooklyn Then and Now and Paris Then and Now.