Book: Sprinting Through No Man's Land
Author: Adin Dobkin
Pages: 316
This is my 147th read for the year
What Amazon Says:
On June 29, 1919, one day after the Treaty of Versailles brought about the end of World War I, nearly 70 cyclists embarked on the 13th Tour de France. From Paris, the war-weary men rode down the western coast on a race that would trace the country's border, through seaside towns and mountains to the ghostly western front. Traversing a cratered postwar landscape, the cyclists faced near-impossible odds and the psychological scars of war. Most of the athletes had arrived straight from the front, where so many fellow countrymen had suffered or died. The cyclists' perseverance and tolerance for pain would be tested in a grueling, monthlong competition. An inspiring true story of human endurance, this book explores how the cyclists united a country that had been torn apart by unprecedeted desolation and tragedy. It shows how devastated countrymen and women can come together to celebrate the adventure of a lifetime and discover reewed fortitude, purpose, and national identity in the streets of their towns.
This was an interesting book. My dad is a huge Tour fan. He and my mom actually went one year to follow the tour for several weeks on a tour of their own and watch the race. It was interesting to read about the Tours beginnings and how it differs from today. It was a bit dry in spots, and there is just about as much about WWI as the tour, which was a bit odd I know what the author was trying to do, but I would have liked the book to just focus on the bikers.
Stars: 3
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