Ranging from the expansive pastures of Edwardian England to rural Russia in the last days of the Tsar, and to the terrible violence in which the Empire ended, this narrative follows the desperate journey of Joseph Clements, a former jockey in charge of the Imperial Stud at Kharkov.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
During the final days of the Bolshevik Revolution, Englishman Joseph Clements, head trainer at an Imperial Stud Farm threatened by the Red Army, takes two prize stallions and attempts to flee the country. On the road, continually in danger from bitter cold, hunger, and desperate refugees as well as the advancing army, he remembers happier times: boyhood in Wales, training as a jockey, the move to Russia, a romance with a Russian princess. The memories only strengthen his determination to get the horses to safety. This novel by the author of Hitler's Games: The 1936 Olympics ( LJ 6/1/86) should appeal to readers who like adventure; librarians might also want to offer it to fans of Westerns. Recommended.
- Anne Keenan, Blair P.L., Neb.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Anne Keenan, Blair P.L., Neb.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
A deft hand with adventures in exotic places (Katmandu in The Heights of Rimring, 1981; a flooded mountain mine in Level Five, 1982), Hart-Davis here follows the trek of an English horse-trainer as he leads two prize stallions 600 miles to safety through the carnage of the early days of the Russian Revolution. Through flashbacks, the author reconstructs the early life of Englishman Joseph Clements: a runaway orphan who loves horses and is finally given stable work; a happy roustabout with a kind family of circus people; and at last an exerciser in a famous stud-farm, where occasionally royal horses are stabled. There's a racing career, then finally the big prize--in 1912 he's hired, from another post in Russia, by a distant cousin of the Tsar, to oversee the construction of a large thoroughbred stud farm, a lovely place beyond St. Petersburg. There, he falls in love with the Prince's daughter Katya, who returns his love. But in the family absence, the Bolshevik threat becomes a reality, and Clements knows that the farm and horses are doomed. Clements begins his terrible journey with two stallions through brutal weather and the slaughter of people and animals. He's rescued at one point by officers of the English RAF. Clements will load the stallions on their train, and- -although a gentle man who'll do all he can for suffering animals- -he'll take up a gun with his countrymen. Before the happy/tragic close, Joseph is reunited with Katya and leaves behind chaos, death--and love. Like all fictional versions of desperate journeys, the trek itself carries its own suspense, and, here, there are convincing, evocative views of old Russia and some solid horse-talk. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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