Customer Reviews

Man o' War: A Legend Like Lightning

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is easily the best book on Man O' War and it has the kind of beautiful writing and period detail to entice even those who aren't really horse racing fans.
Red, as Man O' War was often called, comes to life in this book and the research Ours must have undertaken is impressive. There's a lot of great drama regarding the people who surrounded Red, including his jockey who was accused of throwing a race. Great stuff.

While this book will be compared to Lauren Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit, probably to its detriment, it is exciting in its own way. Seabiscuit told a rags-to-riches story. Man O'War's story was a riches-to-riches tale and so lacks some of the suspense.

I am a geezer who, at age 7, actually saw Man O'War "in person" the year before he died so the book had special meaning for me. Even though I have read other books on Big Red, this one was wonderfully detailed with racing lore and life among the rich in that era.

I'm from Michigan and my parents took me, a horse-crazy girl, to Kentucky to visit the horse farms of the area which one could do back then. One could even drive through most of the pastures, stopping to open and close the gates on the way. You could walk through the barns and many grooms would lead out a prized and loved horse for you if you showed knowledge about and interest in horses. I still remember seeing Man O'War. He was in a four-stall stallion barn with three other horses- his sons War Admiral and War Relic and a stable pony. The other horses were shown to us first and then the groom stepped to THE stall and opened the door for those of us waiting in the barn aisle. The adults in front saw that I couldn't see and let me stand in front. There was Big Red with his head high in the air, giving us a disdainful glance. He knew why we were there and it really was all about HIM.

This book brought all those memories back and gave me new insights. Not as fine a book as Seabiscuit, but a good story of racing and sport in the 10s and 20s.

If you like horse racing books, it's excellent. I like horse racing, and horse racing books, so I'm admittedly biased, but I think this is a great read for people with only a passing interest in horses... it's an excellent look at a period in history. The author does a nice job of immersing the reader in the time and place - definitely worth reading.

There has been some great books on Thoroughbred racing past and present over the past several years. Dorothy Ours pens a classic on the history surrounding a champion for the ages, Man o' War.

The reader regally captures the personalities, the controversies and the racers in what many consider "The Golden Age of Sports." The vast research by Ours and her flowing writing style makes the era come alive.

It may come as a surprise that industry issues like juiced tracks, juiced runners and equally juicy rumors surrounding jockeys, gamblers and security issues at the tracks that capture headlines today were front-page issues nearly 90 years ago.

The book is a must for a fan of Thoroughbred racing. And it is about time for those who learned about the sport through the classic book and movie about Seabiscuit to get reacquainted with the Sport of Kings.

I just finished reading this book and have been inspired to write my first Amazon review. I agree with one review above that things start slowly, with a seeming overload of extraneous information, but everything Ours describes up front turns out to be relevant as the story goes along. In fact, her exhaustive attention to detail really helps set the scene so when things take off, the reader can come along for the ride. Chapter 8 made me laugh out loud, and I was hooked for the rest of the book. Couldn't put it down past page 99! I just finished it and still feel a warm, happy, glow (plus I learned a TON about horse racing). Two thumbs up.

I just spent the last three days almost totally engrossed in this book after discovering it in the New Books section of my library. Anyone who is interested in Man O'War, American horse racing, Seabiscuit, etc should check this book out - Dorothy Ours has done extensive research on Man O'War and, just as important - the people surrounding Man O'War - key players such as Louis Feustel, Johnny Loftus and Clarence Kummer. Ms. Ours fills in the blanks as to the possible reason for "Red"'s one loss to Upset in the 1919 Sanford; goes into greater detail on Red's two stablemates, Major Treat and Golden Broom (although I know it's fiction, I had always assumed that the Walter Farley version of Golden Broom's fate (that he never ran again after the Sanford) was correct - however, Golden Broom did race again, he just never won again). While the storyline is not as compelling as "Seabiscuit" - as has been stated in previous reviews, this is not a rags-to-riches tale - I believe it must be regarded as the definitive work on Man O'War.

True - the book does not refer (except in passing) to his stud career (other than his 25+ years as Kentucky's #1 tourist attraction). However, that information (as well as a detailed breakdown of his lineage) can be found in the 1950 biography by Cooper & Treat (recently reprinted in paperback).

Highly recommended and a great gift for the racing fan!

An incredible read. I wanted to cry at the end because the ride was over, and it made me want to have been born 100 years ago just so I could have seen the marvel that is Man o' War.

I am a dedicated thoroughbred racing fan, journalist, and photographer, and have read everything I could get my hands on about Man o' War. This book is quite honestly the best ever written about the legend and Ms. Ours has done him a great justice. To the author: Thank you a hundred times over...and thank you for signing it!

Being a big, big fan of Secretariat, I always kind of scoffed when people claimed Man o'War was still the greatest horse of all time. After reading this book, I have joined their ranks. Wow, what an incredible horse. He's like Babe Ruth in baseball: in a class by himself.

Concerning this book, written by Dorothy Ours, I have to warn potential readers that it is a slow read. .I almost gave up on this book several times. It just seemed to drag with way too many boring details of everything. It's just not the entertaining book I had hoped to read. However, there are enough interesting stories about the crazy stuff that went on in the early 20th century with horse racing (i.e. horses snorting coacaine) to make it worth reading. And, of course, Man `o War's amazing talents and feats should keep you involved.....but you have grind through the dull spots.

One thing for sure: this book will convince you Man o' War is the greatest and will give you a real feel for what horse racing was like about 100 years ago.

I've been a Man o' War fan since childhood, and Ours' biography of the champion is the best of all that I've read. Like Laura Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit," Ours' book is meticulously researched, using contemporary newspaper and magazine accounts of Big Red's career and secondary sources. Ours is a talented writer and her prose captures the excitement surrounding Man o' War's races - you really feel like you are there by the rail watching him run!

I now know so much about horse racing, at least during the 1920s, that it is a little unsettling. Dorothy Ours did a fabulous job of weaving the undercurrents of greed, malice, honor, dysfunctional personalities, and stark honesty (not especially common) of the horse racing world of the time around that incredible being, Man O War. I suppose you could say that she used Man O War, his accomplishments and talents, as a backdrop for illumination to highlight the condition of humanity, then and now. Honesty does not always get its reward, nor honor its justice. Capability does not always get its glory. Greed, avarice,malice do not always get their just desserts. It is a bittersweet picture of reality. Still, the wonder of the horse shines.