HORSE: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations

by J. Edward Chamberlin

Ever since the dawn of human history, horses have held a mystical sway over our imagination—we respect and revere them like no other animal.  We have conceived them as both domesticated and free, both belonging to our civilization and to the wild.  At first, it was an encounter of death, as Stone Age humans hunted horses for food and hides.  But they also painted horses full of grace and beauty on the walls of their caves, and gave them a central place in their songs and sacred rituals.

Drawing on archaeology, biology, art, literature, and ethnography, HORSE illuminates the relationship between humans and horses throughout history.

J. Edward Chamberlin is a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto and Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan.  The grandson of an Alberta rancher, Chamberlin has bred horses and collected stories about them for much of his life.

HORSE: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations is available from BlueBridge publishing.  Learn more or order a copy at www.bluebridgebooks.com

ISBN 0-97424-059-1

288 pages, hardcover, $24.95