Farewell to the horse: the final century of our relationship

Description

The relationship between horses and humans is an ancient, profound and complex one. For millennia horses provided the strength and speed that humans lacked. How we travelled, farmed and fought was dictated by the needs of this extraordinary animal. And then, suddenly, in the 20th century the links were broken and the millions of horses that shared our existence almost vanished, eking out a marginal existence on race-tracks and pony clubs. Farewell to the Horse is an engaging, brilliantly written and moving discussion of what horses once meant to us. Cities, farmland, entire industries were once shaped as much by the needs of horses as humans. The intervention of horses was fundamental in countless historical events. They were sculpted, painted, cherished, admired; they were thrashed, abused and exposed to terrible danger. From the Roman Empire to the Napoleonic Empire every world-conqueror needed to be shown on a horse. Tolstoy once reckoned that he had cumulatively spent some nine years of his life on horseback. Ulrich Raulff's book, a bestseller in Germany, is a superb monument to the endlessly various creature who has so often shared and shaped our fate. Machine generated contents note: pt. I The Centaurian Pact -- Energy: Hell for Horses -- A Pastoral Incident -- Riding West -- The Shock -- The Jewish Horsewoman -- pt. II A Phantom of the Library -- Knowledge: Blood and Speed -- The Anatomy Lesson -- Connoisseurs and Conmen -- Researchers -- pt. III The Living Metaphor Pathos -- Napoleon -- The Fourth Rider -- The Whip -- Turin: A Winter's Tale -- pt. IV The Forgotten Player -- Histories: Teeth and Time -- Conquest -- Out of the Picture -- Herodotus.