Warhorses

Dr Ayton has transformed understanding of Edward III's armies - compulsory reading for anyone interested in the Hundred Years War. WAR IN HISTORY [Michael Prestwich] The mounted, armoured knight is one of the most potent symbols of medieval civilisation; indeed, for much of the middle ages the armoured warhorse was what defined a man as a member of the military class. However, despite the status of the knightly warrior in medieval society, the military service of the later medieval English aristocracy remains an unaccountably neglected subject, and the warhorse itself has never attracted a major study based upon archival sources. This book seeks to open up new fields of research: it focuses on the horse inventories, documents which offer detailed lists of men-at-arms and their appraised warhorses, the valuation of which is a measure of its owner's social and military status. Dr Ayton is primarily concerned with the inventories and related records for Edward III's reign, a period which witnessed significant changes in the organisation of the English fighting machine. Thedocuments produced during this period of `military revolution' cast valuable light on the character and attitudes of the aristocratic military community at a time when its traditional role was in the course of re-evaluation. Dr ANDREW AYTON is senior lecturer in history at the University of Hull.

Using rare and unpublished images, Paul Garson tells the story of the horses of the Nazi war machine.

Mingzong (r. 926–33) was the most illustrious emperor of the Five Dynasties, and one of the most admired of China’s middle period, the Tang to Song. A warrior of Shatuo-Turk ancestry, he ascended the throne of the Later Tang on the heels of a mutiny against his adopted brother, thus sparing his dynasty an early death. Mingzong’s brief reign came to be heralded by historians as the “Small Repose”—a happy convergence of peace and prosperity. He marshaled a cluster of eminently able courtiers, men who balanced Confucian charity against the military discipline demanded in a time of transition. These years were marked by trade with bordering states, frenzied diplomatic activity, and a succession of defections from states to the north. Mingzong wisely eschewed military conflict, except as a last resort. Conservative in moral and legal matters, he introduced radical economic reforms that included deregulation of traditional monopolies and timely changes to the tributary system. Drawing extensively on primary sources, including Mingzong’s spirited correspondence with his officials, this political and cultural biography brings to life a charismatic emperor who was held up as a model ruler by succeeding generations. “In this evocative and fascinating study of the Later Tang emperor Mingzong, Richard Davis has brilliantly illuminated a little known and even less understood period of Chinese history, the interval between the unified Tang empire and the Song dynasty when native Chinese and Shatuo Turkish peoples worked together to transform the politics and culture of North China. It is a delight to read a historian who is a master of his sources and at the top of his craft.” —Robin D. S. Yates, McGill University “The political history of the early tenth century is not for the faint of heart. Shatuo Turks, Kitans, and Han Chinese, from aspirants to the throne, to surrogate sons, generals, mutineers, and courtiers were all maneuvering for advantage as circumstances constantly shifted. Richard Davis, by focusing on one of the Shatuo rulers, helps us understand the many challenges facing would-be reunifiers of China.” —Patricia Ebrey, University of Washington “This is a fascinating portrait of a man who contrived in his way to be a good ruler and was to die of natural causes in an age when life was for most in China nasty, brutish and all too short, and who, moreover, by instituting the preservation of the Chinese heritage through printing transformed the Chinese world for ever after.” —T. H. Barrett, SOAS, University of London

It is estimated that 10 million fighting men, almost 800,000 of the British, died in the First World War. Alongside this tide of human cannon fodder was formed an equally large army of horses and mules. On the Western Front alone one million horses died. This book tells the story of the part these animals played in the war.

Cavalry were an important part of almost every ancient army, yet modern writers have neglected them in favour of the infantry of the Greek phalanx and the Roman legions. Warhorse seeks to correct this injustice. Phil Sidnell challenges the common view that ancient cavalry were useful for scouting and raiding but left the real fighting to the foot soldiers. In fact, he argues, they were often used in a shock role and proved decisive on many occasions. The famous victories of great generals such as Alexander, Hannibal and Julius Caesar could not have been won without a full appreciation of the battle-winning potential of the cavalry. Drawing heavily on the ancient sources, Warhorse takes the reader on a thrilling ride through numerous vividly recreated battles, from the earliest civilizations to the Battle of Hastings, to reveal the horsemen of the ancient world in their full and deadly glory. 'A wonderful book ... written in a very clear and quick-paced writing style. It should become a classic.' PETER G. TSOURAS, US defence intelligence analyst and author and editor of many books, including Alexander: The Invincible King of Macedonia. 'Sidnell has produced a highly readable study of the combat role of cavalry in the ancient world ... argues his point in an imaginative thorough fashion ... this book will appeal to a wide range of readers.' CHOICE, June 2007

Warhorses is the haunting, electric work of a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who never ceases to challenge and delight his readers. This powerful collection of Yusef Komunyakaa's poetry delves, with his characteristic allusiveness, intelligence, and intensity, into an age of war and conflict, both global and internal, racial and sexual. "Sweetheart, was I talking war in my sleep / again?" he asks, and the question is hardly moot: "Sometimes I hold you like Achilles' / shield," and indeed all relationships, in this telling, are sites of violence and battle. His line is longer and looser than in Taboo or Talking Dirty to the Gods, and in long poems like "Autobiography of My Alter Ego" he sounds almost breathless, an exhausted but desperate prophet. With the leaps and improvisational flourishes of a jazz soloist, Komunyakaa imagines "the old masters of Shock & Awe" daydreaming of "lovely Penelope / like a trophy."

An e-book edition of War Horse with movie stills, behind-the-scenes photos, storyboards, and more! In 1914, Joey, a beautiful bay-red foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France. But even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey's courage touches the soldiers around him and he is able to find warmth and hope. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer's son he left behind. Will he ever see his true master again?