The Horse

This book presents "a chronicle of the horse's relationship with the peoples of the world--as a mode of transportation, a means of farming, a companion, and a weapon of war. It covers the profound impact of the species in an extraordinary story of evolution, revealing just how much of our existence we owe to this amazing animal. Six thousand years ago, humans domesticated the horse, and have relied on it as a key tool in everything from military influence to agriculture. The horse's strength and speed is crucial to its role in the history of humankind, lending a hand in expanding trade networks and colonial conquests, and acting as an agent of disease and even as a source of energy. Horses are markers of civilization, and their populations have been used to track people's movement and settlement around the globe"--