What do you think?
Rate this book
Thoroughbred Legends #1
Man o' War: Thoroughbred Legends
Acclaimed as the greatest racehorse of all time, and more than half a century after his death his legend continues to grow. Mentioned with the same reverence as Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, and Red Grange. Winner of twenty races in twenty-one starts. His sons and daughters continue to influence the Thoroughbred breed today.
159 pages, Hardcover
First published April 25, 2000
69 people want to read
About the author
Edward L. Bowen
31 books5 followersEdward L. Bowen was an American Thoroughbred horse racing historian and author, and the president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, an institution involved in funding equine research.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 21, 2014
This is the first one of this series (out of the 6 or so I've read) that I just didn't like that much. There are two issues, both related to the era when Man O'War raced. The information in other books in this series seem to cover the same topics in slightly different ways - the breeder, the owner, the trainer, the jockey, the races, the stud career, and other relevant topics like awards, progeny, notable grooms, etc. This one seemed light on the jockey, the trainer, and frankly the horse itself prior to racing as a two year old. I believe that there wasn't much "color" documented on Man O'War specific to his birth and first year or so, which I again assume was normal for horses from the teens and twenties. Even the race descriptions were a little less than thrilling, using as sources very short official race descriptions. So the content felt very limited.
The content also felt very dated in the way it was written. The flowery language and complex sentences that I recall when reading newspaper writing of the time are replicated in sections of the book. It's almost as if Bowen has been infected by a flowery language virus from those old newspaper reports and writes large chunks of this book, especially the front half, in that vernacular. It wears thin quickly. I also noticed many pages where each sentence had Capitalized Proper Nouns, at least two or three per sentence. It's history, but written that way it is boring history. For such a short book, this was pretty difficult to read.
I'm hoping that Bowen's other books in the series aren't cursed by sounding like a 1920s newspaper sports story -- the other subjects are all from later eras so I've got my fingers crossed.
The content also felt very dated in the way it was written. The flowery language and complex sentences that I recall when reading newspaper writing of the time are replicated in sections of the book. It's almost as if Bowen has been infected by a flowery language virus from those old newspaper reports and writes large chunks of this book, especially the front half, in that vernacular. It wears thin quickly. I also noticed many pages where each sentence had Capitalized Proper Nouns, at least two or three per sentence. It's history, but written that way it is boring history. For such a short book, this was pretty difficult to read.
I'm hoping that Bowen's other books in the series aren't cursed by sounding like a 1920s newspaper sports story -- the other subjects are all from later eras so I've got my fingers crossed.
November 21, 2015
Man o' War was arguably the greatest American Thoroughbred of all time. This book was...not.
I didn't particularly care for Bowen's writing style, but that was a personal preference. The real reason I didn't enjoy this book very much was probably because I had already read Man o' War: A Legend Like Lightning by Dorothy Ours. After that very in-depth experience, this seemed like a dry overview, which is normally what I expect from this series. It was unfair of me to set the standards higher, but as I said, it was probably because I had read the other first.
I would say, read this for an overview, and then read Dorothy Ours's book if you want to know more.
I didn't particularly care for Bowen's writing style, but that was a personal preference. The real reason I didn't enjoy this book very much was probably because I had already read Man o' War: A Legend Like Lightning by Dorothy Ours. After that very in-depth experience, this seemed like a dry overview, which is normally what I expect from this series. It was unfair of me to set the standards higher, but as I said, it was probably because I had read the other first.
I would say, read this for an overview, and then read Dorothy Ours's book if you want to know more.
September 17, 2009
As a horse biography, this small volume has a lot more information about the people than the horse. The breeder, the trainer, the jockeys, and the owner are all discussed in great detail with the great horse's deeds as a sort of backdrop. I enjoyed the fictionalized account of Man o' War's career by Walter Farley more. However, this book contains photos and equal attention to Big Red's breeding, birth, and sire career, which is missing from the Farley book.
June 13, 2024
This is the fourth book I've read about Man o' War. This is the worst of the four, which is why I gave it only 2 stars. It just suffers so much in comparison to the other three books.
HOWEVER
if you have not read any other book about Man o' War and this is the only book you can get a hold of, by all means, go for it. You will find the facts about Big Red and why he is considered to be the best Thoroughbred ever foaled in America.
But you will not get just why this horse became such an American icon. Compared to the other three books, this makes for dry reading. The author had to rely on written sources at the time, and only found one person still alive that remembered seeing Man o' War run. Only Big Red's last race was filmed, which was remarkable since it was in 1919.
The book also suffers from being about the weakest in the Thoroughbred Legends series. It also is the weakest of the four or so books Edward L. Bowen wrote for the series. In contrast, his book on Nashua is vibrant and fun, because Bowen watched Nashua run and could interview the people closely associated with him.
This still makes a better story than my maternal grandmother told me of when she went to Pimlico to see Big Red run. The crowds were so thick that all she saw was a pair of chestnut red ears go by.
If you can, get a hold of Dorothy Ours' bio instead of this.
HOWEVER
if you have not read any other book about Man o' War and this is the only book you can get a hold of, by all means, go for it. You will find the facts about Big Red and why he is considered to be the best Thoroughbred ever foaled in America.
But you will not get just why this horse became such an American icon. Compared to the other three books, this makes for dry reading. The author had to rely on written sources at the time, and only found one person still alive that remembered seeing Man o' War run. Only Big Red's last race was filmed, which was remarkable since it was in 1919.
The book also suffers from being about the weakest in the Thoroughbred Legends series. It also is the weakest of the four or so books Edward L. Bowen wrote for the series. In contrast, his book on Nashua is vibrant and fun, because Bowen watched Nashua run and could interview the people closely associated with him.
This still makes a better story than my maternal grandmother told me of when she went to Pimlico to see Big Red run. The crowds were so thick that all she saw was a pair of chestnut red ears go by.
If you can, get a hold of Dorothy Ours' bio instead of this.
July 31, 2023
The first book in the Thoroughbred Legends series focuses on the great Man o' War. I learned a lot about this magnificent horse's background and bloodlines, his owners, and the stable from where he came as well as the one he ended up in. There were plenty of facts and figures to establish his presence in horse racing. Unfortunately what I didn't get was an emotional connection, either with the horse or his accomplishments. The book is a good overview about the horse and the impact he had on racing, which can lead you to seek out more - more about what this horse was and what he meant to the people of his day and the days after that and the days after that. More about how inspiring he was, and how heartbreaking was the end of his too short career. I liked that a number of captioned black & white pictures are included in the center of the book.
June 18, 2025
An updated look at the life and times of Man O'War and those closest to him. If you love horses and horse racing, this is a great story of the greatest horse of all time.
August 13, 2016
Lovely, unique pictures. My favorite Man o' War book so far.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews