Donna LandryNoble Brutes: How Eastern Horses Transformed English Culture (Animals, History, Culture)

Service was good, no problems. Not my favorite book.

Very detailed, extensive and knowledgeable account of how Eastern horses - mainly Arabians - influenced English life and culture. Many topics are illuminated: horse racing and its history in England, hunting, the history of riding styles (Baroque riding School vs. the English riding style), the development of the thoroughbred race horse, representations of horses and riding in art and literature, the relationship between horse and human, and more. The book incorporates quotations of historic sources like the Duke of Newcastle, but also less well-known, and it also considers travel accounts and trading data between England and the Orient. The stories of the founding sires of the English thoroughbred are examined, and a chapter is dedicated to the bloody-shouldered Arabian. As far as I understand, the chapters were lectures given to students of a new field of studies called 'animal studies', and the author is a professor at the University of Kent. The book's style is academic. I learned a lot of it. If only the illustrations could be in colour, and generally of better quality.

If you want some real background on the origin of'blood horses, you won't go wrong with this. The author distinguishes between Arabs and Turks, which was what they did in the 16th and 17th centuries. Prof Landry delivers an accurate account of what came to England not only when but before the General Stud book was getting itself written. She writes lucidly, illuminating her discoveries with references, some of which are surprising. I don't always like academic books but I liked this one.

Donna Landry is an academic but has written a book which should be a must resd for every horse lover.

Very interesting

Very enlightening. Detailed, with plenty of historic sources and some pictures.I'd wish for more pictures and illustrations in colours but the focus is on texts on the history of fast horses in England before photography was invented. A journey into the past.