Explores the experience of the British cavalry during the First World War from Mons to Ypres. The opening months of the First World War were the golden sunset for the horsed regiments of the British army. Whether they were Lancers, Hussars or Dragoons, their names were redolent of glory and grandeur. Trained for shock tactics as well as scouting and reconnaissance, several times in 1914 they clashed dramatically with their German counterparts on the battlefields of France. Yet at the same time, the role of the cavalry was shifting inexorably away from these romantic charges, with trumpets, gleaming lances and swirling sabres. In the new warfare of the Twentieth Century, the true value of these regiments was as an intensively trained, highly mobile reserve. Despite their misgivings about the role, the Regular cavalry (latterly with Yeomanry alongside them) were also a highly effective force when fighting on foot. Able to arrive quickly at trouble spots, they were equally skilled with the rifle, and on more than one occasion in 1914 they were able to retrieve a critical situation.

マシュー・リチャードソンは本書において、第一次世界大戦初期という「騎兵の黄金の黄昏」を、単なる記録としてではなく、一つの時代が終焉を迎える壮大な叙事詩として描き出しました。煌めく槍と軍刀が象徴する十九世紀的なロマンティシズムが、近代戦という無慈悲な現実の前に変容を余儀なくされる過程は、文学的な美しささえ湛えています。 特筆すべきは、華々しい突撃の裏側にある、高度に訓練された専門集団としてのプロフェッショナリズムへの着眼です。伝統への誇りを胸に抱きつつも、過酷な泥濘の中で泥臭く適応していく騎兵たちの葛藤は、歴史の転換点に立つ人間の尊厳を浮き彫りにします。消えゆく栄光の残照を鮮烈に刻み込んだ、魂を揺さぶる傑作といえるでしょう。