Warrior

Overview

"The star of Spielberg's film [War Horse] is fictional. The true equine hero of 1914-1918 was Warrior."  —Sunday TimesUnlike the book and film War Horse, Warrior is the extraordinary true tale of the thoroughbred horse Winston Churchill's great heroic friend, Jack Seely, took to France in 1914. They both survived five years of bombs and bullets to lead a cavalry charge in 1918 before returning home where they rode on together until 1938. The book tells the whole history of Warrior, his life from his birth on the Isle of Wight to his amazing feats as a famous war horse and how a combination of both the horse's extraordinary character and some unbelievable twists of fate, helped him survive a war which claimed the lives of eight million horses. Originally published in 1934 as My Horse Warrior, this edition is introduced by Jack Seely's grandson Brough Scott, and includes the original illustrations which equine and war artist Sir Alfred Munnings drew especially for Jack Seely both during the war and at home afterwards.

Author Biography

General Jack Seely (1868–1947) sat alongside Winston Churchill in Asquith's government from 1911 to 1914. He later commanded the Canadian cavalry on the Western Front during World War I with Warrior as his talisman and the pair led a cavalry charge against the German advance in 1918. His book, My Horse Warrior, with illustrations by Sir Alfred Munnings who had first painted horse and rider at the front line in February 1918, was published in 1934. Sir Alfred Munnings was known as one of England's finest painters of horses. Brough Scott is Jack Seely's grandson. He rode 100 winners as an amateur and then professional jockey before becoming a broadcaster and journalist.