Product Description
Horses and humans share an ancient, profoundly complex relationship. Once our most indispensable companions, horses were for millennia essential in helping build our cities, farms, and industries. But during the twentieth century, in an increasingly mechanized society, they began to disappear from human history. In this esoteric and rich tribute, award-winning historian Ulrich Raulff chronicles the dramatic story of this most spectacular creature, thoroughly examining how they've been muses and brothers in arms, neglected and sacrificed in war yet memorialized in paintings, sculpture, and novels―and ultimately marginalized on racetracks and in pony clubs. Elegiac and absorbing, Farewell to the Horse paints a stunning panorama of a world shaped by hooves, and the imprint left on humankind.
Reviews/Praise
“To call this history from scientist and journalist Raulff a sprawling work would be an understatement. The author’s deep love of and fascination with all things equine is apparent in this beautifully translated deep dive into the history of humankind’s relationship to the horse. . . Beautifully written and undeniably compelling. Anyone with a love of horses will be in paradise reading this reverently catalogued tribute.” —Jennifer Stout, Library Journal
“A fascinating canter through the history of horses and their dealings, for better or worse, with humans. . . . A top-notch addition to the library of any cultured equestrian; highly readable from start to finish.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Scintillating, exhilarating ... you have never read a book like it ... a new way of considering history'"—Observer UK
"The book is beautifully and idiosyncratically illustrated, in keeping with the text." —The Guardian