La Grande Guerre à cheval

The Great War on horseback is not a history book, but a book that tells a story: that of the French cavalry during the First World War, whose horse action constitutes one of the most forgotten, even unrecognized, aspects of the conflict. The terrible legend of the Great War was indeed written, for the most part, by the large waves of poilus, driven into muddy trenches or sent to the fire for attacks without return. Despite everything, tens of thousands of men went to war on horseback, armed with a lance or a sword, often with a breastplate and a mane helmet. Even reduced, the mounted cavalry will remain present until the end of the war.

In this work, Jean-Louis Andreani brings together two of his interests: 14-18 and horses. Journalist, he decrypts, analyzes, compares the texts of historians or witnesses. Writer, he plunges the reader into the heart of war and the daily life of the cavalry, revives astonishing episodes with a vivid and limpid pen. Cavalier, he enriches his text with valuable notations, which only a familiar of horses could bring.