I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review. I had expected it to be about the horses who’ve become famous in history - Warrior, Copenhagen, Marengo, etc. But this felt more like a book that occasionally referred to them as part of an in depth replay of various battles. If you want a blow by blow account of battles, with endless descriptions of the armour, swords, guns, tactics... this is the book for you. If you wanted to know more about the horses and their lives - I’d advise you try other books. I ended up having to chip away at this in small doses before my tolerance for equipment and battle description was reached, and then patience exhausted, I power read through the last third of the book.

Humans should be grateful that horses have decided to befriend and work for and with us. Humans have benefitted more from the pact than war horses. At lease 8 million horses and mules were killed in World War I alone, but many people do and did have a love for horses. Author Trow starts with a bombing in the 1980's with one of the Royal Army horses, Sefton, who survived, receiving thousands of get-well cards and raising money for a hospital wing. Trow then takes readers back millions of years to eohippus, mesohippus, and to the possibly first domestication of horses in the Eurasian steppes by the Botai people in Kazakhstan. He is clear in this section of ancient history that some theories are just that, theories. However, the horse is the most frequently depicted animal in Paleolithic cave art and horses in a military setting appear as far back as Assyria. Readers learn about famous war horses through time and place, but also something about the soldiers and peoples who rode them, even including a chapter on Hollywood films and horses. Although there is dispute, the last major cavalry charge was in November 1941 in Russia when about 2,000 horses and their riders were killed in 10 minutes by the invading Germans. The author has an easy-to-read style with a little humor thrown in that I have enjoyed in his other books. There is also a helpful bibliography. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Very informative book about horses used in war time throughout history . And the roles they played to help win the war.