Before Jackie Robinson ever donned a Dodger uniform - there was Tom Bass. Before Rosa Parks ever demanded a seat in the front of the bus - there was Tom Bass. Before Martin Luther King ever had a dream - there was Tom Bass. Before Barack Obama ever ran for President - there was the legend of Tom Bass - the black horse whisperer. Born a slave, Tom Bass rose to the summit of what had always been a white man's profession, the training of the America's greatest Saddlebred horses. At nine years old this Mozart of the equestrian world used his extraordinary natural talent to teach an outlaw mule who couldn't even be handled to canter backwards. An advocate of gentleness and patience, Bass turned dangerous horses into reliable mounts - without ever raising his voice or using a whip. His immense knowledge of equine psychology allowed the man who had been born in a slave cabin to invent a revolutionary and humane bit, still in use today. Yet Bass's greatest achievements were in the saddle, not in the training ring. What he was able to entice horses to do defies belief. His consummate skill and immense empathy with horses allowed him to produce horses of such exquisite proficiency that their accomplishments are still remembered today. Buffalo Bill's famous white horse, Columbus, was one such legendary talent. Bass was able largely to transcend the race barrier because he was accounted the greatest horseman of the late nineteenth century. The first black American ever to ride in Madison Square Garden, in an age when racial segregation ruled the nation, Tom Bass was the mounted friend of five presidents of the United States, including Teddy Roosevelt. Upon Tom's death in 1934, his name was a household word, synonymous with equestrian feats of unparalleled beauty and achievement. Then his story faded into oblivion, until this fascinating biography of America's most remarkable black horseman was rescued from the shadows.
Ella Maillart was the adventurous Swiss woman who made her name as an intrepid explorer and one of the most remarkable woman travelers of the early twentieth century. An amazing sports woman, she first represented her country as the only woman competitor at the 1924 Paris Olympics in the single-handed boat-sailing contest, then later raced for Switzerland as a member of the international ski team. Yet these outdoor activities only developed Maillart's insatiable curiosity to travel east, leaving behind the confines of her early life in Geneva in search of the perfect life that she was instinctively seeking. Her later adventures took her across many continents and various oceans. Maillart sailed the Mediterranean in a yawl, traveled with famed travel English travel writer Peter Fleming from Peking to Kashmir, explored Tibet with a half-wild tiger-cat in search of spiritual enlightenment, and finally drove 4,000 miles from war-torn Europe to the fabled Khyber Pass in a battered Ford car. Yet her solo journey through Central Asia in the early 1930s was considered to be a highlight of her adventure-filled life. Setting off from the Tien Shan mountains of Mongolia, Maillart rode horses and camels to the far away walls of fabled Bokhara. Turkestan Solo is her vivid account of this wonderful, mysterious and dangerous portion of the world, complete with its Kirghiz eagle hunters, lurking Soviet secret police, and the timeless nomads that still inhabited the desolate steppes of Central Asia. If any book can give its reader the ability to look back in time, this one does, written as it was by one of the world's foremost female equestrian explorers. Amply illustrated, it remains a timeless adventure classic.
It started as a search for heroes. It became a hunt for the most elusive equestrian charlatan of all time. If Frank Hopkins is to be believed, he led one of the most exciting, challenging and colorful (albeit unrecorded) lives in the late nineteenth century. No one rode more miles, eluded more danger, or befriended more famous people than he did. During the 1930s and 40s the self-proclaimed legend told a na ve American public that he had won nearly five hundred endurance races, including an imaginary race across Arabia on a mythical mustang named Hidalgo. Hopkins' remarkable career supposedly began when he became a dispatch rider for the US government on his twelfth birthday in 1877. According to his mythology, this Renaissance Man of the Old West went on to work as a buffalo hunter, Indian fighter, African explorer, endurance racer, trick rider, bounty hunter, Rough Rider, big game guide, secret agent, Pinkerton detective and star of the Wild West show. Experts beg to differ. This book contains an unprecedented study, undertaken by more than seventy experts in five countries, ranging from the Curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum to the former Sultan of Yemen. These academics investigated the historical improbability of Hopkins' claims and weighed him on his merit, not his myth. The resulting exhaustive study revealed that Hopkins had maintained a spirited disregard for the truth, plagiarized material from famous authors, slandered genuine American heroes and perpetrated a massive fraud for nearly one hundred years. Far from being the star of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show for 32 years, for example, the counterfeit cowboy was discovered working as a subway tunnel digger in Philadelphia and a horse-handler for Ringling Brothers Circus. It is his endurance racing pretensions, however, that have brought Hopkins his greatest notoriety and made him the hero of a Hollywood movie. Yet there is not even a documented photograph of Frank Hopkins in the saddle Here then are all the known writings of Frank T. Hopkins, published in their entirety for the first time in history.
Here is a tale of wit and wisdom, of bravery and betrayal, of courage and cowardice, of forgotten heroes and notorious traitors. Here is the story of Clan O'Reilly down through the ages.
Written by the noted hstorian, Dr. J. J. O'Reilly, this book tells the story of the O'Reilly clan over many centuries. Here are the dark tales of how the O'Reillys wrested their freedom in the 13th century from their O'Rourke overlords. Here are the lost stories of how the O'Reillys became Irish lords and ruled the kingdom of Breifne. Here are the heart-rending remembrances of how the O'Reillys were conquered and crushed by the cruel Cromwell.
Descended from native O'Reilly stock in the ancient clan capital of Cavan, Dr. O'Reilly spent years researching and writing this loving account of one of Ireland's most famous familites. The chapters are rich with history, awash with facts and strung together with enough legends to make any reader happy.
Amply illustrated with photos by the author, this is the first time that this important book has been offered to an international audience. If you are an O'Reilly, you can't bear to be without it. Even if you're not an O'Reilly, we'll let you read it anyway
This remarkable book recounts the extraordinary journey made by the most influential Long Rider of the 20th century. In 1925 Aim Tschiffely set off to ride from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to New York City. The legendary 10,000 mile journey took him through mountains, jungles and swamps where he encountered rope bridges, vampire bats, sand storms, quicksand and hostile natives. After two harrowing years he was accorded a ticker-tape parade when he rode triumphantly through the streets of New York. This amazing story is narrated by the two equine heroes, Mancha and Gato, who accompanied the author. Though nearly a century has passed since the trio set off on their journey, their story has become a celebrated classic. Amply illustrated with drawings by the author, this is a book for all lovers of horses, for all lovers of travel and for all lovers of adventure.