An outstanding study of a neglected topic. New England Quarterly In recent decades, such ethnic groups as Italians, African-Americans and Chinese have rightfully demanded recognition for their share in building America in the days of the Industrial Revolution. Horses clearly did as much but had no one to speak in their behalf. Now they do. History Wire 2007 Overall, McShane ... Read moreand Tarr have written an outstanding and highly creative book. It should interest historians of cities, the environment, economics and animals. Journal of Economic History 2008 Presents a rich and complex picture of nineteenth-century urban life. McShane and Tarr have given us a book that is simultaneously an urban social history, a social history of a technology, and an environmental history. Technology and Culture 2008 The growth and development of the 19th-century city would have been vastly different without the horse, even though the horse's role was taken for granted by city residents and ignored by historians. Choice 2008 Valuable contribution not only to urban history but also to nineteeth-century economic, business, environmental, and social history. Journal of Interdisciplinary History 2008 A brilliant account of an incredibly important but understudied topic.
John H. Hepp, IV American Historical Review 2008 McShane and Tarr's book, mercifully free of academic argot, a pleasure to read and full of enjoyable and surprising revelations, is welcome. And, if you'll forgive the metaphor, it covers the ground well.
Paul Laxton Urban History 2008 Their work will no doubt encourage many scholars to reevaluate what they know about the physical formation of U.S. cities and what was going on in them.
Robert Buerglener American Quarterly 2008 A deeply researched exploration of the intimate relationships among horses, humans, urbanization, industrialization, and reform.
George B. Ellenberg Agricultural History 2009 Taken together the horse and the growth of the city fill an interesting and useful history of America. This ride is highly recommended.
Ray B. Browne Journal of American Culture 2008 A valuable addition to the growing discussion of animals in history... the reader is left with a greater appreciation of the horse as an active participant in American history.
Marta Knight Economic History Review 2008 It should be required reading for anyone interested in the environmental history of urban life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Brian Black Environmental History 2008 A fascinating story of the 'Gelded' Age.
D. Scott Molloy Journal of American History 2008 Show Less