Seabiscuit was a homely horse with an impressive pedigree whose early career was in the hardluck world of small time tracks and claim races. Seabiscuit threw his knee when he ran, and couldn't even fully straighten out his legs. But millionaire automobile dealer Howard Smith saw him and spotted what everyone else had missed. The rest is quite literally history.

During the 30s, Seabiscuit was not only the most famous horse or the most famous athlete; he was the single most famous personality of his era, garnering more column inches in the newspapers and magazines than Hitler, FDR, or anyone else. His incredible Cinderella story, from the lowest echelons of horse racing to the highest ranks of fame and fortune, appealed to an America caught in the grip of the Depression.

Hillenbrand captured not just the story of this scrubby little horse, nor of the men who trained and nurtured him, but of the nation that idolized him and the era he symbolized. She conducted numerous interviews with primary players in Seabiscuit's story, as well as with the family and friends of those now dead. She saw rare film footage of Seabiscuit's races, and her account of his famous one-on-one race with his chief rival, War Admiral, is without question one of the most vivid and exciting passages of writing in any genre I've ever read. Only the best novels take you to another time and place; it's very rare that non-fiction has this power.

If you are a horse fan, the story of "Lone Plainsman" Tom Smith's training and nurturing of this scrappy horse will add a whole other element of enjoyment to Hillenbrand's tale. In today's era of "horse whisperers," the radical nature of Smith's gentle training methods might be missed, but there is no doubt they were as effective as they were unusual for their times. Smith took an unruly, ugly horse who hated to race, hated to compete, and hated people, and turned him into one of the fastest, hardest working, friendliest, calmest thoroughbreds ever to run a race.

Seabiscuit actually had his own railroad car, in which he traveled with his best friend, a horse named Pumpkin who he lived with for the rest of their lives, and his other buddies, including a monkey and a spotted mixed breed dog named Pocatell. Unlike most horses, Seabiscuit (known as a very lazy horse when he wasn't blistering the track) liked to sleep lying down, and his idea of a good day was one he spent cuddled into the hay napping with his friends. He snoozed his way across the United States, coming out of his private railcar to greet his fans along the route and accept carrots from newspaper reporters. (The only things he liked more than napping were eating and being admired.)

There has never been a horse like Seabiscuit. There has never been a story like this one. Hillenbrand, whose book is now being made into a feature film, has done justice to her subject with one of the finest works of history and sports biography ever published.

Copyright 2003 by Christie Keith. Used with permission. All rights reserved.