Brother Mendel's Perfect Horse
  • Published: 15 August 2013
  • ISBN: 9780099512776
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $39.99
Categories:

Brother Mendel's Perfect Horse

Man and beast in an age of human warfare

Formats & editions
EBook
5 Jul 2012
Paperback
15 Aug 2013
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Europe's twentieth-century history told through the incredible story of a horse: the Lipizzaner.

' "When you touch a Lipizzaner, you're touching history," Westerman was once told. His elegant book offers fascinating proof' Financial Times

Frank Westerman explores the history of Lipizzaners, an extraordinary troop of pedigree horses bred as personal mounts for the Emperor of Austria-Hungary. Following the bloodlines of the stud book, he reconstructs the story of four generations of imperial steed as they survive the fall of the Habsburg Empire, two world wars and the insane breeding experiments conducted under Hitler, Stalin and Ceausescu.

But what begins as a fairytale becomes a chronicle of the quest for racial purity. Carrying the reader across Europe, from imperial stables and stud farms to the controversial gene labs of today, Westerman asks, if animal breeders are so good at genetic engineering, why do attempts to perfect the human strain always end in tragedy?
  • Published: 15 August 2013
  • ISBN: 9780099512776
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $39.99
Categories:

About the author

Frank Westerman

Frank Westerman is a highly acclaimed Dutch non-fiction writer. His work has been translated into sixteen languages and has received numerous awards, including the Kapuscinski Prize (Poland), the Premio Terzani (Italy) and the Prix du Livre du ReÅLel (France).

portrait photo of Frank Westerman

Also by Frank Westerman

Engineers Of The Soul
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Praise for Brother Mendel's Perfect Horse

A masterpiece

De Standaard

A most charming book

Allan Mallinson, The Times

"When you touch a Lipizzaner, you’re touching history," Westerman was once told. His elegant book offers fascinating proof

Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times

Westerman's own unique process of hybridisation, his mix of travel writing and history, yet again proves a winner… enquiring and thoughtful

Lucy Scholes, Independent

Westerman’s account of the Lipizzaners’ remarkable survival makes stirring reading. His tales of research in secret archives and encounters with wartime veterans who helped with Operation Cowboy have the subterfuge and tension of a thriller

Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph

A winner...enquiring and thoughtful

Independent

Fascinating

Caroline Moorehead, Literary Review

Westerman offers a reflective account of man’s obsession with the prized Lipizzaner horse

Sunday Telegraph

Westerman’s tale, part historical journey, part travel tome, takes the reader across Europe to explore every avenue of the Lipizzaner’s eclectic history

Good Book Guide
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