Unbreakable by Richard Askwith Book Review

You’re not supposed to judge a book by the cover, but when I saw the cover of Unbreakable: The Woman Who Defied the Nazis in the World’s Most Dangerous Horse Race by Richard Askwith, I knew I had to buy and read it. The black and white photo of a female steeplechase jockey, soaring over a hedge with a massive ditch captured my attention. Then I was introduced to Lata Brandisová, the rider, via the book description which told this story is about a baroness who fought sexism, prejudice and the Nazis. How could I NOT love this book at the outset?

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Lata Brandisová is a forgotten heroine, an equestrian whose story is worthy of our attention. With a quiet confidence and dogged tenacity, she followed her passions and became a national figure–not because she wanted the spotlight, but for the love of the horse. She possessed a special bond with her mare Norma which you’ll learn about in the pages of the book.

The biography opens in the early 1900s. Lata was one of eight children from a noble family with Austrian roots in Bohemia, which is now the Czech Republic.  Although her family had status and an estate, their financial stability was precarious. This is actually a riches to rags story, but you’ll find more details on that subject when you read Unbreakable.

Lata was a horse girl through and through. She began riding lessons with her twin sister at 8, was allowed to ride unsupervised at 9, frequently riding 12 miles to the next town over, and by the time the twins were 10, they were skilled enough to drive the family’s carriage. The author notes the girls both rode astride and the local townsfolk would comment on how confident the girls were on horseback.

While reading about Lata’s riding education formed by long hours in the saddle, I thought of Denny Emerson’s book Know Better to Do Better: Mistakes I Made with Horses (So You Don’t Have To) which I reviewed in this blog post. He speaks to the subject of riding proficiency by logging time in the saddle. And I thought about my own formative riding experiences–I was a little older than Lata at 12, but allowed to just ride around unsupervised in the wide open spaces of Illinois countryside in the company of my horse girl friends. But I digress.

In a nearby city was (and still is) a legendary steeplechase course Pardubice–think the Grand National on steroids. The Grand Pardubice, its celebrated annual race, is often referred to as the Devil’s Race. In its century and a half long history, horses and humans have met their end due to the outrageous jumps. The most ominous of them called Taxis which “consisted of a huge ditch, two meters deep and five across, concealed on the approach by a stiff hedge, 1.4 meters high and 1.2 meters thick. . . A horse jumping it straight would need to soar a minimum of about eight meters to land safely on the far side.”

If you love horse books, read 20 Horse Books to Read Now.

There was a lot of machismo on display every year with the Grand Pardubice, THE social event of the season (think of all the pomp and circumstance, fashion and celebrities milling about at the Kentucky Derby). In the early part of the 1900s most of the riders were military men and, in the 30s the Nazi horsemen dominated the steeplechase.

Against that backdrop, the unassuming, home schooled former baroness, a devout Catholic who just loved horses out rode all the tough guys and became champion in 1937.

Ubreakable is not just a horse story, but a skillfully crafted history guide delving deep into the intricacies of Central European relations both before and after World War I and II. It’s a fantastic journey into the role of women in general (and in equestrian sport) and provides a glimpse into cultural conflicts beget by the darkness and brutality of Nazi ideology. These narratives of real people not famous enough to make the pages of school textbooks, opened my eyes to what life was like in another era and place.

When you read Unbreakable: The Woman Who Defied the Nazis in the World’s Most Dangerous Horse Race for the horse story, you’ll walk away with profound historical empathy.

If you are a horse lover who likes to read non-fiction books like The Perfect Horse (click here see my review) or memoir like In the Middle Are the Horsemen, I predict you will adore Unbreakable too.  What’s not to love about a passionate equestrian underdog and a talented mare defeating the villains? And by reading Lata and Norma’s story, you will be transported to the world’s toughest horse race, all from the comfort of your own home.

Question: What have you been reading lately? Do you have any good horse books to recommend? Leave a comment for us. 🙂

Thanks for reading and tally ho!

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