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About this book
From one of today's leading experts on ancient DNA, a sweeping genetic history that unravels the mystery of where horses were first domesticated.
Ludovic Orlando garnered world acclaim for helping to rewrite the genomic history of horse domestication. Horses takes you behind the scenes of this ambitious genealogical investigation, revealing how he and an international team of scientists discovered the elusive origins of modern horses. Along the way, he shows how the domestication of the horse changed the trajectory of civilization – with benefits and unforeseen consequences for the animals themselves.
Orlando brought together world-class experts in genomics, archaeology, and the history of peoples, languages, and migrations. Comparing the DNA of ancient horses to the genomes of dozens of modern horse breeds, these researchers reconstructed millennia of equine evolutionary history. They now believe that horses were first domesticated some 4,200 years ago on the steppes of the North Caucasus. Orlando discusses how selective breeding significantly intensified over the past two centuries, giving rise to faster, stronger horses but also creating a severe decline in genetic diversity that has made horses more prone to genetic diseases. He looks at breeds throughout history and around the world, explaining how they have been bred for particular purposes or environments, from Botai and Przewalski's horses to the warhorses of the Vikings and Genghis Khan, Arabian thoroughbreds, Himalayan steeds, and mules.
Blending panoramic storytelling with cutting-edge genetic science, Horses chronicles an unbreakable bond that was forged thousands of years ago on the windswept Eurasian Steppe, one that heralded a bold new era in the human drama – that of speed.
Originally published in French in 2023 as La Conquête du Cheval: Une Histoire Génétique by Odile Jacob.
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Biography
Ludovic Orlando is a CNRS Silver Medal-winning research director and founding director of the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse at the University of Toulouse in France. His work has appeared in leading publications such as Nature, Science, and Cell. He is a recipient of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Newcomb Cleveland Prize.
Coming Soon
By: Ludovic Orlando(Author), Teresa Lavender Fagan(Translated by)
280 pages, 18 colour illustrations
"This is a breathtaking book from the geneticist who decoded the horse's ancient secrets. It is a modern tale of serendipity, power, and relentless spirit."
– Christina Warinner, Harvard University
"Ludovic Orlando is among the most brilliant scientists I have ever worked with. In Horses, he reveals how cutting-edge DNA research is rewriting the story of the four-thousand-year history of human-equine relationships. I warmly recommend his book – a fascinating blend of history, science, and personal narrative."
– Eske Willerslev, University of Copenhagen and University of Cambridge
"Horses, especially after we learned to ride them, literally changed the course of human history – without them there would be no mega-empires, like Achaemenid Persia. But where and when was the horse domesticated? This wonderful book by Ludovic Orlando, which reads like a detective story, solves this puzzle."
– Peter Turchin, author of Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth
"Ludovic Orlando weaves together groundbreaking scientific discoveries with rich historical narrative, transforming our understanding of the relationship between humans and horses. This is a wonderful melding of scientific discovery and human history."
– Beth Shapiro, author of How to Clone a Mammoth
"The origins and subsequent biological and cultural history of most domestic animals remain patchy. With this titanic book, Ludovic Orlando has ensured that what we now know about horses matches the outsized effect they have had on human history over the past four thousand years."
– Greger Larson, University of Oxford
