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Brother Mendel's Perfect Horse: Man and Beast in an Age of Human Warfare Paperback – Illustrated, November 1, 2013

by Frank Westerman (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 22 ratings
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Europe's 20th-century history told through the incredible story of a horse: the Lipizzaner, in a sweeping story of falling empires, war, genetics, and purebred horses

"When you touch a Lipizzaner," Frank Westerman was told as a child, "you are touching history." Here he explores the history of these unique creatures, an extraordinary troop of pedigree horses first bred as personal mounts for the Emperor of Austria-Hungary. Following the bloodlines of the studbook, he reconstructs the story of four generations of imperial steeds 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, this unique and engrossing fusion of history and travel writing is a modern fable in which the pure-blood horse ends up revealing man's own shortcomings.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Vintage UK
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 0.8 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0099512777
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0099512776
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review


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



"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."  —Sunday Telegraph

About the Author

Frank Westerman is the author of Engineers of the Soul. His work has been published in more than 10 languages and has won many prizes.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage UK; Reprint edition (November 1, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0099512777
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0099512776
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.8 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
22 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2019
Verified Purchase
Loved this book. I am very fascinated by the whole epic of the confiscated horses from WWll and this book was very illuminating
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Kate Phillips
5.0 out of 5 stars Not what you Expect
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2014
Verified Purchase
This book was excellent. As a Lipizzan breeder, it was filled with valid information from the perspective of the average German, but the in-depth review of genetic and its role in WWII was insightful and surprising.
2 people found this helpful
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keetmom
4.0 out of 5 stars Informative pastiche of tales where horses foreground the devastation of centuries of European war
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2014
I am big fan of Frank Westerman's writing where he sets himself a particular quest and weaves together a story of different threads. He writes as a journalist who delves into history and science - the strength of this is that it opens up specialist areas to the general reader, but its weakness is that the larger purpose can get lost. So bundled together in this collection of tales about the breeding and training of the famous Lipizzaner horses, are detours into linked accounts of genetics, Hollywood, Nazis, secret Austrian royalists and the brutalities of civil war. The Lipizzaner was always intended as a show horse, never a war horse, but as Westerman reveals all too often these magnificent creatures have suffered at the hands of man and been dragged into and through some of the most horrific of human conflicts.
One person found this helpful
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J. Karr
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2016
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Excellent transaction. Highly recommended.
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Horse's Friend
5.0 out of 5 stars Lipizzans in history
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2014
This is a fascinating book for anyone who wants to read a very different view of European life surrounding the history of the Lipizzaner breed.
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Heidi Schwalbe
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2014
Still reading, very informative
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Top reviews from other countries

margaret-jean knell
5.0 out of 5 stars Brother Mendels Perfect Horse
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 8, 2013
Verified Purchase
For anyone who loves the visual majesty of the Spanish Riding School's horses, and the exuberance of the Lipizzaner running free in a field - this is an essential read to understand how closely we came to losing this breed and the connection between peas and the true breed Lipizzaner horses. Brother Mendel was ridiculed for most of his life because of his beliefs in the structure of the fauna and flora of this planet. He was nearly excommunicated for his attempts to prove the structures that we now call DNA. He carried out his research in secret under the guise of a vegetable garden and applied his knowledge to benefit the world. It is thanks to his perseverance that we can admire these beautiful horses now (despite the breed being threatened with an equine equivalent of ethnic cleansing in many conflicts). A must read for anyone who is interested in horses, DNA. and the beauty of nature at its strongest.
One person found this helpful
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Moz
5.0 out of 5 stars History straight from the Horse's Mouth
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2012
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I haven't read this book but I bought it as a present for a vet friend of mine. She emailed me to say how much she is enjoying it because it combines two of her greatest interests: history and horses. I'm rather hoping to borrow it off her because although I'm not a horsey person, I find this period in history very interesting and I'd like to read about it from a different perspective.
One person found this helpful
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Dr Miriam A Bibby
4.0 out of 5 stars Symbols, ciphers, pawns or catalysts?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2013
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Reading this book is something like watching an animated chess game, but played over the map of Europe, rather than on a board of black and white squares. In this game, the pawns have been replaced by white horses. However, these pawns don't have the opportunity to convert to royal pieces. Instead, when they reach on side of the board, they are sent, or driven, back exactly the way they have come, or dispatched in another direction altogether. The regal aspect of the Lippizaner horses is significant, as this book reveals, although they have not always been treated royally. If you view horses as noble (almost in the same sense as gold and silver are noble metals) then you will find parts of this book truly disturbing, indeed harrowing. It's about horses as refugees, caught up in armed struggles and political machinations; it's about horses as symbols and projections of belief systems; it's about horses as commodities.

It's a modern history, written in a modern style; that is to say, it mixes the personal with the political; and rather than the refined research of the academic, we are given the raw and immediate research of the journalist, writing as he or she finds and experiences it. In the same way as Gerd Heuschmann has been laying bare the truth about training methods in the dressage world, Westerman lays bare the often sordid political truth behind the dancing white stallions whose beauty and grace have captivated audiences for decades. Fortunately, along the way, he is also able to straighten out a few facts about the people - from opposing political backgrounds and belief systems - who behaved with genuine concern for the horses themselves.

It's a tough read and perhaps a little too easy for the horses to become ciphers, helpless against the human Yahoos at all levels of the political tree, who have shuffled them round the European and international board game. However, by the end of the book, I was left with a question that seemed to provide a curiously satisfactory conclusion. Were - are - the horses really the manipulated pawns in this game, or do they, in some strange and subtle way, change, for the better, the consciousness of all the humans who come into contact with them? Read the book and decide for yourself.
One person found this helpful
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Dawn
5.0 out of 5 stars great read for horse lovers
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2013
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This book is designed for lovers of horses but also for anyone interested in German studies as it also considers the role of the Lippazaner in the history of Austria and Germany.
One person found this helpful
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ann brown
5.0 out of 5 stars perfect horse
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2013
Verified Purchase
very informative book, especially the history of zootechnics,lots of research done to produce a piece of good writing. a book that will stay on my book shelf for further reference
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