BY ANN HYLAND
TO BE PUBLISHED: 3 APRIL 2003
HARDBACK £20.00 ISBN: 0 7509 2160 9

A unique overview of the uses and development of the horse in ancient Egypt, Greece and Mesopotamia.
This book '. . . should change the way we think about both
the military and the cultural history of early empires.'
Professor F. E. Walbank CBE, FBA

Writers have spun fantasies around the relationship between horse and man, from Pegasus and the centaurs of ancient Greek mythology to Jonathan Swift's Houynhnms and Yahoos. However it is less common for historians to analyse the decisive role played by the horse in some of the main episodes of human history.

Written by an experienced breeder, trainer and skilled endurance rider who knows what a horse can and cannot do, this book explores the role of the horse in ancient civilisations including the Hittites, the Seleukid Kingdom in Mesopotamia, the Steppe and Hun tribes. Ann Hyland uses her own experience to support evidence from Babylonia, Assyria, Palestine, Egypt and Greece about all aspects of horsemanship and its importance to rulers such as Ramses II, Solomon and Alexander the Great. Illustrated with a wide variety of images from documentary, archaeological and literary sources, it offers a global perspective on the period 2300 BC to 300 BC.

Ann Hyland has established herself as a leading expert on the history of the horse with a background in horse-breeding and training. She has worked with the makers of television programmes such as Battlefield Walks (BBC) and The Warhorse (The History Channel). Her other publications include The Medieval Warhorse: From Byzantium to the Crusades (Sutton, 1994), The Warhorse 1250-1600 (Sutton, 1998) and The Horse in the Middle Ages (Sutton, 1999). She lives near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire.

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