The Byerley Turk: The True Story of the First Thoroughbred Paperback – March 1, 2007

This book is the closely, thoughtfully imagined history of the Byerley Turk, one of the three foundation sires of the Thoroughbred. It is an historical novel with nearly equal emphasis on story and history. There are explanatory end notes and a bibliography. Or you can skip all that and just love the tale.You don't need to be horse mad to love this book. The Turk was participant in the fall of the Ottoman empire in 1686, captured as booty by the English, acquired by Byerley and participated in the Ireland battlegrounds between King James and William of Orange in 1689. I am not strong in Ottoman history but the clash of cultures as well as battle is all here, with footnotes tucked into the back of the book to inform the reader when the detail is believed to be true.There is horse sense and horsemanship throughout. Author James is a 'long rider'--an explorer on horseback who has ridden through Turkey all the way to Wales, an experience that adds more verisimilitude to the tale and gives his imaginings as firm a footing as his research. Turkish detail abounds, although not always explained, which adds to the sense of participating in a story whose essence is true, even if it has been polished into a novel.James imagines with enormous, but never boring, detail what it is like to raise a horse with respect and skill, to live in the stables of the Sultan, to ride into battle with rubies and emeralds encrusting the tack, the salt and blood and horror and skill of battle grabs the back of your neck, and the relationship between a man and a horse becomes the symbol of man and nature with the potential for harmony broken by the failures of sympathy. 'Seyis' is Turkish for groom, which apparently meant a lot more in ancient turkey than in modern barns. The otherwise nameless hero, the seyis, is the breeder of Azarax (the horse)and his trainer and best rider. He is also a horseman archer whose skill in battle becomes legendary. Nonetheless, the seyis is a peaceful man who tries to embrace a philosophy of accepting fate, of reading the character of man by the way he treats a horse, the calm of respecting the nature of others, human or horse. This character is wholly of James imagination but the seyis is enthralling and admirable, reflective of James' respect for Turkish horsemen and the horses they raised. Byerley is similarly heroic and like the seyis, nearly flawless. Nonetheless, their adventures are gripping.Literate teenager or adult readers will enjoy it. The pacing is terrific, the descriptions very well done and the choice of language(s) more than up to the task.You will not like this book if you want the breeding history of the original thoroughbred, the mares he bred to and foals that resulted. There is only one race in the book, told indirectly, and breeding discussions are only mentioned in passing.I did not expect to love this book or to be unable to put it down (Note: I have now read it at least 5 times.) This is an historical novel and act of imagination, which is usually not my genre. Jeremy James is a horseman, and while horsemen may have poetic souls, most are not able to express their love of the animal in words. I expected something a little pedantic but informative. I have not read a horse novel since I was a child (all of those Marguerite Henry and Walter Farley classics) and I get impatient with fawning, adoring unrealistic approaches to nearly anything. And still I loved this book. You will too. You may never look at any horse in just the same way again.

I love and crave historical stories about important horses and animals and I own what few books there are on the Godophin Arabian, the most widely known father of the modern thoroughbred horse. But other than Margurite Henry's "King of the Wind", no writer has ever so eloquently captured the history, the import and the essence of a horse story so gracefully and meticulously as Jeremy James. Its my constant struggle not to rush and pour through the pages enthusiastically, and rhythmically as I am like to do with a book I so thoroughly enjoy, and I must continually remind myself to slowly and carefully savor the detailed descriptions of the Ottoman Empire and her Army from its incredible heights and grandeur, to its fall at the hands of the Polish Calvary. James somehow manages to seamlessly mold a story about one of the most important horses to ever live, with colorful and generous attention to one of the greatest and most renown eras of history and war at that time, making this book a beautiful and important work. his descriptions are lyrical and often make me feel like he writes in homage to Dostoevsky's turn of phrase.If you are trying to decide whether to buy the new book on Eclipse (by N. Clee) or this book, there is no comparison. Buy this book, unless you prefer your historical horse stories to be repetitive and one tracked. No pun intended. All I will say is that the esteemed "Eclipse" sits on my shelf, half finished, never to be returned to as I tend to prefer my horse history to be more horse, less whores and fops. I wish Jeremy James - who really understands horses- wrote the Eclipse book.And now I am off to buy every last thing this man has ever written about horses. Not since Margurite Henry have I purchased every book a single author has written. Well, except Shakespeare.

I am a geneaologist; I should explain I am more interested in theperson, Colonel Robert Byerley that the "Turk." Since childhood I first learned of the "Byerley Turk" as the tail mail of all racehorses in the world. I was again looking for the name "Byerley",not the horse, he was a Captain then of Queens own Guard. What Mr. Jermey James did was followed the name when possible and then thehorse. His understanding and mind set allowed him into the worldof not only horses, but people; foreign and domestic. I can nota special ability that allows a person to live in the mind of ahorse..a charger..and the ability to get inside however brieflythe mind of the Colonel. What Mr. James has done has saved mea great deal of time. I do intend to visit with Mr. James in2010 or 2011. I have been over the world from Australia toEurope and finaly to the United Kingdom. Oh! I did find my ancestoryalthough I am not positive that I may have descendend from Colonel Byerley...the cenus records in the United States do not show childern before l850. Mr. James you have an ability beyond mosta very good book; well written, documented. I look for ward to meeting with you. Roger G. Byerley