"The domestication of the horse revolutionized warfare, granting unprecedented strategic and tactical mobility, allowing armies to strike with terrifying speed. The horse was first used as the motive force for chariots and then, in a second revolution, as mounts for the first true cavalry. The period covered encompasses the development of the first clumsy ass-drawn chariots in Sumer (of which the author built and tested a working replica for the BBC); takes in the golden age of chariot warfare resulting from the arrival of the domesticated horse and the spoked wheel, then continues down through the development of the first regular cavalry force by the Assyrians and on to their eventual overthrow by an alliance of Medes and the Scythians, wild semi-nomadic horsemen from the Eurasian steppe. As well as narrating the rise of the mounted arm through campaigns and battles, Duncan Noble draws on all his vast experience as a horseman and experimental archaeologist to discuss with great authority the development of horsemanship, horse management and training and the significant developments in horse harness and saddles." --Publisher description.

The International Bestseller An Amazon Best Book of the Month A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read Book From New York Times bestselling author of The Mosquito, the incredible story of how the horse shaped human history Timothy C. Winegard’s The Horse is an epic history unlike any other. Its story begins more than 5,500 years ago on the windswept grasslands of the Eurasian Steppe; when one human tamed one horse, an unbreakable bond was forged and the future of humanity was instantly rewritten, placing the reins of destiny firmly in human hands. Since that pivotal day, the horse has carried the history of civilizations on its powerful back. For millennia it was the primary mode of transportation, an essential farming machine, a steadfast companion, and a formidable weapon of war. Possessing a unique combination of size, speed, strength, and stamina, the horse dominated every facet of human life and shaped the very scope of human ambition. And we still live among its galloping shadows. Horses revolutionized the way we hunted, traded, traveled, farmed, fought, worshipped, and interacted. They fundamentally reshaped the human genome and the world’s linguistic map. They determined international borders, molded cultures, fueled economies, and built global superpowers. They decided the destinies of conquerors and empires. And they were vectors of lethal disease and contributed to lifesaving medical innovations. Horses even inspired architecture, invention, furniture, and fashion. From the thundering cavalry charges of Alexander the Great to the streets of New York during the Great Manure Crisis of 1894 and beyond, horses have shaped both the grand arc of history and our everyday lives. Driven by fascinating revelations and fast-paced storytelling, The Horse is a riveting narrative of this noble animal’s unrivaled and enduring reign across human history. To know the horse is to understand the world.

The domestication of the horse revolutionized warfare, granting unprecedented strategic and tactical mobility, allowing armies to strike with terrifying speed. The horse was first used as the motive force for chariots and then, in a second revolution, as mounts for the first true cavalry. The period covered encompasses the development of the first clumsy ass-drawn chariots in Sumer (of which the author built and tested a working replica for the BBC); takes in the golden age of chariot warfare resulting from the arrival of the domesticated horse and the spoked wheel, then continues down through the development of the first regular cavalry force by the Assyrians and on to their eventual overthrow by an alliance of Medes and the Scythians, wild semi-nomadic horsemen from the Eurasian steppe. As well as narrating the rise of the mounted arm through campaigns and battles, Duncan Noble draws on all his vast experience as a horseman and experimental archaeologist to discuss with great authority the development of horsemanship, horse management and training and the significant developments in horse harness and saddles.

A novel on the Comanches, the first Indians of the Plains to take advantage of the horse, brought by the Europeans. The resulting mobility helped them become a great nation and their story is told through the eyes of Horseback, a skilled mounted warrior. (From WorldCat).

In July 1857, the first major battle between the U.S. Army and the Cheyenne Indians took place in present-day northwest Kansas. The Cheyennes had formed a grand line of battle such as was never again seen in Plains Indians wars. But they had not seen sabres before, and when the cavalry charged, sabres drawn, they panicked. William Y. Chalfant re-creates the human dimensions of a battle that was as much a clash of cultures as it was a clash of the U.S. cavalry and Cheyenne warriors.

An imaginary historical tale set in the historic civilizations of East Asia, "The Dream of AO" depicts the challenges of a moral and ethical life, the fight for equality and the human drive for purpose. The backdrop is the clash and convergence of four vastly different peoples, each claiming cultural superiority. It is also a romantic tale of the genuine love of three couples who bridge these cultural divides. At the heart of the story is an epic mental battle of survival between two leaders of warring peoples, one led by a woman of superior intelligence and insight versus her deadly opponent, a man of extreme cunning. The fictional events and characters convey classical themes of courage and treachery, love and hate and the power of redemption and deep motivations of revenge. This story of creative and fanciful imagination is the detailed recitation of a "dream" by a young man called "AO" who lived on the south-eastern edge of the Indian subcontinent. The "dream" was told through the words of professional storytellers, itinerant preachers, and mystics with powerful memories and magical verbal skills. Audiences would sit quietly for hours, even days, absorbing every word of the tale. Epic stories memorized and recited for centuries in the oral tradition eventually appeared in writings. The narrator of this story, called Akshay, a distant descendant of AO, assumes the task to write the entire story in precise detail, faithfully reproducing into a written manuscript every word as spoken by trained storytellers for hundreds of years.

The first-person account of how a small band of Green Berets used horses and laser-guided missiles to overthrow the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan after 9/11. They landed in a dust storm so thick the chopper pilot used dead reckoning and a guess to find the ground. They were met by a band of heavily armed militiamen who didn’t understand a word they said. They climbed a mountain on horseback to meet the most ferocious warlord in Asia. They plotted a war of nineteenth-century maneuvers against a twenty-first-century foe. They saved babies and treated fevers, trekked through minefields, and waded through booby-trapped streams—sometimes past the mangled bodies of local tribesmen who’d shared food with them hours before. They found their enemy hiding in thick concrete bunkers, dodged bullets from machine-gun-laden pickup trucks, and survived ambushes launched with Russian tanks. They fought back with everything they had, from smart bombs to AK-47s. They overthrew a government, mediated blood feuds between rival commanders, and argued with generals and politicians thousands of miles away. The men they helped called them gods. One of their commanders called them devils. Hollywood called them the Horse Soldiers. They called themselves Green Berets—Special Forces ODA 595.