{"product_id":"thoroughbred-nation-making-america-at-the-racetrack-1791-1900-hardcover","title":"Thoroughbred Nation: Making America at the Racetrack, 1791-1900 - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNatalie A. Zacek\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the colonial era to the beginning of the twentieth century, horse racing was by far the most popular sport in America. Great numbers of Americans and overseas visitors flocked to the nation's tracks, and others avidly followed the sport in both general-interest newspapers and specialized periodicals. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThoroughbred Nation\u003c\/i\u003e offers a detailed yet panoramic view of thoroughbred racing in the United States, following the sport from its origins in colonial Virginia and South Carolina to its boom in the Lower Mississippi Valley, and then from its post-Civil War rebirth in New York City and Saratoga Springs to its opulent mythologization of the \"Old South\" at Louisville's Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. Natalie A. Zacek introduces readers to an unforgettable cast of characters, from \"plungers\" such as Virginia plantation owner William Ransom Johnson (known as the \"Napoleon of the Turf\") and Wall Street financier James R. Keene (who would wager a fortune on the outcome of a single competition) to the jockeys, trainers, and grooms, most of whom were African American. While their names are no longer known, their work was essential to the sport. Zacek also details the careers of remarkable, though scarcely remembered, horses, whose achievements made them as famous in their day as more recent equine celebrities such as Seabiscuit or Secretariat. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBased upon exhaustive research in print and visual sources from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States, \u003ci\u003eThoroughbred Nation\u003c\/i\u003e will be of interest both to those who love the sport of horse racing for its own sake and to those who are fascinated by how this pastime reflects and influences American identities.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNatalie A. Zacek\u003c\/b\u003e is a senior lecturer in American studies at the University of Manchester. Her previous book, \u003ci\u003eSettler Society in the English Leeward Islands, 1670-1776, \u003c\/i\u003e won the Royal Historical Society's Gladstone Book Prize.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 352\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.4 x 8.3 x 5.8 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 09, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47373944389810,"sku":"9780807182826","price":43.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/2aca92f81b7dacd5a86ffeb89b8b301b.webp?v=1777663779","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/thoroughbred-nation-making-america-at-the-racetrack-1791-1900-hardcover","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}