Isle of Wight author, MJ Trow, has just published his latest book, Famous Horses at War – A Soldier’s Mount Throughout History.
The book is a celebration of the horse and its role in warfare and features famous horses – and their riders – throughout history.
Background
In the days of horsed cavalry, a soldier’s mount was a living, breathing companion. It galloped into the jaws of death at the sound of the bugle and the nudge of spurs.
It carried its rider over arid deserts, across swollen rivers, up near-sheer mountains. Whole societies functioned because of the warhorse – the Huns, the Mongols, and the tribes of the North American plains.
Worshipped as gods
Horses were worshipped as gods – the centaurs of ancient Greece, Tziminchak of the Aztecs, while the Roman emperor Caligula intended to make his horse a consul!
Most of us have only ever seen warhorses at the movies – the Scots Greys at Waterloo, the Light Brigade at Balaclava, Taras Bulba’s Cossacks on the Steppes and Custer’s cavalry at the Little Big Horn.
Celebrates colour and nostalgia of a fighting past
This book celebrates the colour and nostalgia of a fighting past, from eohippus the first horse to Sefton, the last warhorse injured in the line of duty.
Not forgetting the stark reality of thousands of animals sacrificed for men’s greed and ambition, those killed on campaign, the maimed cab-horses and fodder for the knacker’s yard.
About the Author
MJ Trow was educated as a military historian at King’s College, London, specialising in British cavalry.
He is probably best known today for his true crime and crime fiction works, but his first book for Pen and Sword was The Pocket Hercules, a biography of William Morris who led the 17th Lancers in the Charge of the Light Brigade.
Amongst other things, he collects cavalry uniforms and equipment and is never happier than when delving into the dark corners of antique shops.
He divides his time between homes in the Isle of Wight and the Land of the Prince Bishops.
If you’d like to buy the book, head to your local bookshop or purchase from the publisher, Pen and Sword.
News shared by Olivia on behalf of Pen and Sword. Ed
Image: marylou fortier under CC BY 2.0
