The Horse in the City

By Clay McShane, Joel Tarr,

Book cover of The Horse in the City: Living Machines in the Nineteenth Century

Book description

The nineteenth century was the golden age of the horse. In urban America, the indispensable horse provided the power for not only vehicles that moved freight, transported passengers, and fought fires but also equipment in breweries, mills, foundries, and machine shops. Clay McShane and Joel A. Tarr, prominent scholars of…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Horse in the City as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

People don’t often think of horses as urban dwellers, but until the 1930s, American urban life depended on the thousands of horses who were residents, workers, commuters, and consumers. A banker in Boston encountered more horses than a cowboy in Colorado. Tarr and McShane describe urban horses as “living machines” used for mass transit, individual transportation, delivery, construction, manufacturing, and city services. The authors present a wealth of fascinating information and ideas about this relatively unknown aspect of history. The topical organization about how human urbanites obtained, used, supplied, doctored, managed, and maintained equine urbanites makes it easy for readers…

From Ann's list on horses in history.

If you love The Horse in the City...

Ad

Book cover of The Deviant Prison: Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary and the Origins of America's Modern Penal System, 1829-1913

The Deviant Prison By Ashley Rubin,

What were America's first prisons like? How did penal reformers, prison administrators, and politicians deal with the challenges of confining human beings in long-term captivity as punishment--what they saw as a humane intervention?

The Deviant Prison centers on one early prison: Eastern State Penitentiary. Built in Philadelphia, one of the…

Want books like The Horse in the City?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 94 books like The Horse in the City.

Browse books like The Horse in the City

Book cover of Horses in Society: A Story of Animal Breeding and Marketing Culture, 1800-1920
Book cover of Riding High: Horses, Humans and History in South Africa
Book cover of Never Caught Twice: Horse Stealing in Western Nebraska, 1850-1890

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,593

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like The Horse in the City, you might also like...

Book cover of Grand Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism

Grand Old Unraveling By John Kenneth White,

It didn’t begin with Donald Trump. When the Republican Party lost five straight presidential elections during the 1930s and 1940s, three things happened: (1) Republicans came to believe that presidential elections are rigged; (2) Conspiracy theories arose and were believed; and (3) The presidency was elevated to cult-like status.

Long…

Book cover of A Last Serenade for Billy Bonney

A Last Serenade for Billy Bonney By Mark Warren,

In this deeply researched novel of America's most celebrated outlaw, Mark Warren sheds light on the human side of Billy the Kid and reveals the intimate stories of the lesser-known players in his legendary life of crime. Warren's fictional composer and Santa Fe journalist, John Blessing, is assigned to report…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in horses, equestrianism, and Anthrozoology?

Horses 125 books
Equestrianism 35 books
Anthrozoology 122 books