UNBREAKABLE

Biography of a Czech countess who “confront[ed] the warrior-athletes of the Third Reich in a sporting contest so extreme in its dangers that some would question its right to be called sport.”

Askwith (People Power, 2018, etc.) does admirable literary detective work in unearthing the remarkable story of Countess Lata Brandisová (1895-1981), whose early life coincided with an era of glittering aristocratic privilege followed by the catastrophic destruction brought on by World War I. Hailing from a large noble family with Austrian roots in a sprawling inherited estate in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), Lata was mostly home-schooled and largely “ungovernable.” With her siblings, she ran wild throughout the estate grounds, and she was passionate about the horses acquired by her father, a former cavalry officer who had “limited cash but plenty of dash.” Bohemian hunters were famous for their riding prowess, and many of the huntsmen were actually English expatriates who competed in the reckless steeplechase, a sport whose premier event was the Grand Pardubice. Yet the privilege to ride in it—or folly for the horses, 29 of which have died during over the past 145 years—fell to the men, at least until World War I shook up the “inertia of the age.” Despite the abolishment of aristocratic titles and the breakup of her family’s inherited lands, Lata grew in confidence and applied for an amateur jockey license in 1927. At the same time, her cousin was elected to the Prague Jockey Club and introduced her to her first equine partner, and she ran her first Grand Pardubice, with disastrous results. Askwith depicts suspensefully Lata’s amazing mettle and perseverance over the next few years despite the notorious difficulty of the race. In 1937, riding against the Nazi-owned top-of-the-line horses (“Himmler’s Cavalry”), Lata won, to the astonishment of 40,000 spectators “mad with joy.”

Thanks to this intrepid author, Lata Brandisová re-enters the hall of champions to inspire those who come after her.