Anastasija Ropa, "The Medieval Horse" (Reaktion Books, 2025)

Anastasija Ropa, "The Medieval Horse" (Reaktion Books, 2025)

Author: New Books Network November 5, 2025 Duration: 40:00
Anastasija Ropa joins Jana Byars to talk about The Medieval Horse (Reaktion, 2025), a book that explores the role of horses across the medieval world, from the Kievan Rus' and Scandinavia to Central Europe, Byzantium, the Arab world and Asia, including China and India. Covering the early medieval period to the late Middle Ages, it examines how horses shaped societies, warfare and culture and how their legacy persists in traditional equestrian sports today. Drawing on little-known primary sources, artefacts, and the author’s hands-on experience with historical horsemanship, the book offers a vivid account of the deep connection between people and horses. Combining scholarly insight with practical knowledge, this is the most comprehensive study of medieval horses in Europe and Asia to date. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dive into the distant past with New Books in Medieval History, where the latest academic research comes to life through conversation. This podcast, part of the wider New Books Network, functions as an ongoing public lecture series, bringing the authors of groundbreaking monographs directly to your ears. Each episode features an in-depth dialogue between the scholar behind a new book and an informed interviewer, peeling back the layers on topics ranging from daily life and religious practice to warfare, politics, and art across the medieval world. You’ll hear about the process of historical discovery, the debates shaping the field, and the fascinating stories that often lie outside textbook summaries. It’s a chance to sit in on the kind of thoughtful discussion that usually happens in university corridors or after conference panels. By focusing entirely on recently published work, this channel offers a dynamic window into how our understanding of the centuries between antiquity and the Renaissance is continually being refined and challenged. For anyone with a curiosity about the foundations of the modern world, this podcast provides a direct line to the experts who are writing its deepest history. Tune in to explore the complex tapestry of the Middle Ages, one new book at a time.
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