author
John Gilmer Speed
1853–1909
A journalist and editor with a strong feel for history, he wrote about everything from major battles to American horses and family lineage. His work brings together lively reporting, wide reading, and a clear interest in how the past shapes everyday life.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Kentucky in 1853, John Gilmer Speed built a career as an American journalist, editor, and writer. He is associated with editorial work at Leslie’s Weekly and with contributions to major periodicals of his day, while also publishing books that ranged across history, biography, and practical subjects.
His best-known books include The Horse in America, a wide-ranging study of horse types and their history in the United States, and The Gilmers in America, a family history. He also wrote on John Keats and contributed supplementary chapters to editions of Decisive Battles of the World, showing the breadth of his interests.
Speed died in 1909. Today, he is remembered as a versatile turn-of-the-century man of letters whose work moved easily between magazine journalism, historical writing, and book-length studies.