A Social History of Horse Racing

It has long been acknowledged that horse racing is more about people than horse racing. Two millennia ago Ovid was attracted to chariot races as a good place to watch girls, and today most new racegoers are more interested in the people than the horses. Sean Magee's new book discusses, in Jeffrey Bernard's phrase, the 'lunatics, criminals, idiots, charmers, bastards and exceptionally nice people' who make up the racing crowd. From Henry VIII's head-to- heads to Charles II's love of Newmarket, the early days of the bookmakers to the gang influences depicted in Graham Greene's Brighton Rock, this fascinating study brings racing, and those who participate in it, to life.