War Horse (Cascades)

by Michael Morpurgo (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1985

  $4.08

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $3.29

  Sold to a drunken farmer, Joey, a beautiful red-bay foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, finds a friend in the farmer's son, Albert. His father brutally demands Joey work or be sold, so Albert gently trains him to pull the plough. But it's not enough. When war breaks out, Albert's father, needy for money for his struggling farm, sells Joey to the army, where he, like the soldiers around him, must try to cope with the horrors of the First World War. Joey and another thoroughbred horse, Topthorn, lead in a terrible cavalry charge towards the machine guns of the enemy's lines. Joey is captured by the Germans and for while he is lovingly cared for by Emilie, a young French girl and her grandfather. But he and Topthorn must pull a heavy gun, battling through the mud until Topthorn dies of exhaustion. Joey wanders in no man's land, back towards the British trench, but despite a joyful reunion with Albert, Joey is not out of danger. First tetanus threatens his life, and even then Emilie's grandfather has to bid to save him from the butcher. The old man promised his granddaughter when she died he would find the horse she loved and buy him, but recognising Albert's love for Joey, he sells Joey back to Albert on condition he will love for him all his life - for the princely sum of one English penny.

• New

  paperback
  

  $11.62

  I want you to do yourself proud, Joey. You go and drive those Germans back where they've come from, and then come home to me. At the outbreak of World War one, Joey, young Albert's beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. Caught up in enemy fire, fate takes Joey on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man's land. But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home. Nick Stafford's adaptation for the stage of the celebrated novel by the Children's Laureate (2003-05) Michael Morpurgo leads us on a gripping journey through history. War Horse premiered at the National Theatre, London, in October 2007.