The first Arab stallion brought into Britain from the Desert of Arabia was Padischah, imported in the 1830s, and whose pure-bred line still exists. This book provides a complete record of al the desert-bred horses imported into Britain after Padischah, from whom present-day pure-bred Arab horses descend.

In his introductory chapter, Peter Upton provides a narrative history of the desert journeys of those early British enthusiats who went in search of horses suitable for shipping back to Britain, most notably Major Roger Upton, Wilfrid Scawen and Lady Anne Blunt (founders of the famous Crabbet Stud in 1878), and the Honourable Miss Dillon.

Thereafter, and often in the words of the original importers, the author gives detailed descriptions of the eighty-six horses who have lines existing to this day. There follow detailed tables of descent of mares and stallions, and sections on Bedouin horse breeders, the origins of the Arab horse, and the development of strains.

Lavishly illustrated with sixty full-page colour portraits of horses by the author, and colour reproductions of famous paintings of Arab horses by Wootton, Herring, Stubbs, Landseer and others, and with 160 black-and-white photographs, this revised and expanded edition of The Arab Horse will delight and inform all those with an interest in this most beautiful breed.