NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - From the author of The Eighty-Dollar
Champion, the remarkable story of the heroic rescue of priceless horses
in the closing days of World War II
WINNER OF THE PEN AWARD FOR RESEARCH NONFICTION
In the chaotic last days of the war, a small troop of battle-weary
American soldiers captures a German spy and makes an astonishing
find--his briefcase is empty but for photos of beautiful white horses
that have been stolen and kept on a secret farm behind enemy lines.
Hitler has stockpiled the world's finest purebreds in order to breed the
perfect military machine--an equine master race. But with the starving
Russian army closing in, the animals are in imminent danger of being
slaughtered for food.
With only hours to spare, one of the U.S. Army's last great cavalrymen,
Colonel Hank Reed, makes a bold decision--with General George Patton's
blessing--to mount a covert rescue operation. Racing against time,
Reed's small but determined force of soldiers, aided by several turncoat
Germans, steals across enemy lines in a last-ditch effort to save the
horses.
Pulling together this multistranded story, Elizabeth Letts introduces us
to an unforgettable cast of characters: Alois Podhajsky, director of the
famed Spanish Riding School of Vienna, a former Olympic medalist who is
forced to flee the bomb-ravaged Austrian capital with his entire stable
in tow; Gustav Rau, Hitler's imperious chief of horse breeding, a
proponent of eugenics who dreams of genetically engineering the perfect
warhorse for Germany; and Tom Stewart, a senator's son who makes a
daring moonlight ride on a white stallion to secure the farm's
surrender.
A compelling account for animal lovers and World War II buffs alike,
The Perfect Horse tells for the first time the full story of these
events. Elizabeth Letts's exhilarating tale of behind-enemy-lines
adventure, courage, and sacrifice brings to life one of the most
inspiring chapters in the annals of human valor.
Praise for The Perfect Horse
"Winningly readable . . . Letts captures both the personalities and the
stakes of this daring mission with such a sharp ear for drama that the
whole second half of the book reads like a WWII thriller dreamed up by
Alan Furst or Len Deighton. . . . The right director could make a
Hollywood classic out of this fairy tale."--The Christian Science
Monitor
"Letts, a lifelong equestrienne, eloquently brings together the many
facets of this unlikely, poignant story underscoring the love and
respect of man for horses."--Kirkus Reviews
