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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Fascinating, and a wee bit nostalgic as I finished it on the anniversary of seeing the Lippizaner horses perform at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. The writing seemed uneven, especially the section about the backgrounds of the Americans involved. This book is for a very specific audience of horse lovers and historians. Recommended to those folks- you know who you are. 😉
Really enjoyed reading about this small part of WWII.
It was well researched. The many back stories of the main players was thorough and gave you a real sense of who these people were. It did get slow in the middle but, the beginning and ending rolled pretty quickly.
It was educational to learn about another aspect of eugenics in the Third Reich and the role it played in Hitler's pursuit of the perfect war horse. It also illustrated how far modern military technology has come.
It was educational to learn about another aspect of eugenics in the Third Reich and the role it played in Hitler's pursuit of the perfect war horse. It also illustrated how far modern military technology has come.
Much like her previous book, The Eight Dollar Champion, Elizabeth Letts writes a story that even those outside the equestrian world can enjoy and understand the value of these animals. I had the opportunity to see Lipanzaners preform, as well as two different companies of "dancing horses", and how sad it would have been if some of the finest horses in the world had not survived WWII.
WWII was filled with so many tragic stories, one might wonder, "why worry about a few horses", but Letts fills you in on the background or these horses and their unique place in the animal kingdom as well as the culture of Europe. As Hitler starts rounding up the elite horses of Europe to create the perfect horse, dedicated and daring people on both sides of the conflict try to save them, often putting differences aside for the good of the horses. As the war draws to a close, another threat looms as the people caring for the horse realize that the American's are interested in preserving the beautiful animals, but the Russians are not.
WWII was filled with so many tragic stories, one might wonder, "why worry about a few horses", but Letts fills you in on the background or these horses and their unique place in the animal kingdom as well as the culture of Europe. As Hitler starts rounding up the elite horses of Europe to create the perfect horse, dedicated and daring people on both sides of the conflict try to save them, often putting differences aside for the good of the horses. As the war draws to a close, another threat looms as the people caring for the horse realize that the American's are interested in preserving the beautiful animals, but the Russians are not.
I absolutely loved this book and the author’s writing. It is clear the amount of research she put into it. I have always wanted to visit the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, and this book has made me want to go even more. I had read “The Monuments Men”, which detailed the special operation of saving European art stolen by the Nazis. This book even mentioned that mission, and stated no such consideration was given to living creatures like the stolen horses. The bravery and sacrifices of the soldiers was moving, and I would recommend this book to anyone.
To explain the five star rating: my American grandfather played polo for the Army in the 1930s (and always held that horsemanship helped curtail the career rise of assholes, since 1,200 pound animals don't take too kindly to assholes), I've seen the Spanish Riding School in Vienna and the national tours of the horses in the 1980s as a preteen girl who had read Marguerite Henry books, and even though it was historically inaccurate and badly dated by the time I saw it, watched the Robert Taylor movie. Letts, however, as part of the wave of Animals in Wartime research, offers are far fuller and more compelling story, including forays into the misuse and misunderstanding of genetics for eugenics, Alois Podhajsky's WWI PTSD, the 1936 Olympics, the disbanding of the Buffalo Soldiers at Ft. Riley, the politics of the Sudatenland, horse breeding and Polish nationalism, Nazi bureaucracy, the literal meat grinder WWI and II were for animals of every kind, White Russian Cossacks, a guest appearance by an early career Richard Nixon and the shift from mounted to mechanized cavalry. In the process, Patton loses his central role for a more realistic walk-on, and the very compelling story hinges on the luck that the Americans closest to the horses' hiding place was maybe the only person who still loved them. Unfortunately, the horses brought to America were mostly sold off piecemeal by the Department of Agriculture after the American breeding registries refused to acknowledge their paperwork, to the horror of the veterans who saved them, and the real restoration of the breed was left to old-school Alois Podhajsky in Austria, who embraced modern marketing and invented tours that followed the Ice Capades. Mostly I think about being 8 in Boise and how gently one of them took a carrot from me.
Wow. A painful read. Can't recommend. Both the writing and the cherry picking of the story left me frustrated at every turn. Just in general, a story where the author insinuates Poland might have wanted their stolen horses returned to them, but oh, surely they understood their importance in America, the country that stole them! Such an American point of view. It's just one of many tiny details where the author just feels unplugged from the reality of what was happening. Oh, it's mentioned, but rather than shine a light into the dark corners and plucking out something interesting, we just sort of vaguely mention things like someone escaping charges for their war crimes...
Also, petty complaint: If you want to describe more than one Lipizzaner: Lipizzaners or Lipizzaner horses, not Lipizzaner. It's not both a singular and plural noun. The writer is reportedly a horse person, but clearly an editor experienced with horses wasn't around to capture and cut painful, confusing descriptions of horses, horse life, and Classical Riding, which stretch on paragraphs, where a sentence or two would do. Mostly I suspect there was an excessively long word count promised and it was provided.
To be clear, their are a few poignant, touching moments, but it's a horse story. Those aren't hard to manufacture. In more skillful hands it would be a great book. This just isn't that great book.
Also, petty complaint: If you want to describe more than one Lipizzaner: Lipizzaners or Lipizzaner horses, not Lipizzaner. It's not both a singular and plural noun. The writer is reportedly a horse person, but clearly an editor experienced with horses wasn't around to capture and cut painful, confusing descriptions of horses, horse life, and Classical Riding, which stretch on paragraphs, where a sentence or two would do. Mostly I suspect there was an excessively long word count promised and it was provided.
To be clear, their are a few poignant, touching moments, but it's a horse story. Those aren't hard to manufacture. In more skillful hands it would be a great book. This just isn't that great book.
informative
medium-paced
As usual, Elizabeth Letts writes in a wonderful, easy to read style, and her love of a good horse story comes through in every line. She is an exceptional journalist and historian also though, and shared detailed notes and sources at the end, which is a pleasant change after some of my recent reads (*glares at Philomena, which should have been shelved as fiction*). She went to great lengths to get multiple stories and corroborate any information that she could, and then wrote it in her wonderfully engaging style .