Chris McGrath giving a speech this week at the launch celebration in Woodstock Town Hall for Mr Darley's Arabian: High Life, Low Life, Sporting Life - A History of Racing in Twenty-Five Horses.
I didn't think I was interested in horses yet I love this book because it is about so much more than horses - and it is so very well written. It's the story of a bloodline from 1704, the year Thomas Darley sent a colt bought from Bedouin tribesmen near Palmyra by sea back to England. Frankel, the greatest modern racehorse, is descended from this horse as are 95% of all thoroughbreds in the world today.
Mr Darley's Arabian is already gathering glowing reviews - see http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/06/how-racing-finally-became-respectable/
and
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mr-darleys-arabian-high-life-low-life-sporting-life-a-history-of-racing-in-25-horses-by-christopher-mcgrath-7n3fnb5ws
