The RB Official Road Cycling Book Review Thread

[kaiser]

Really enjoyed A dog in a hat. Smashing book.

 

[NeilM]

Really enjoyed A dog in a hat. Smashing book.

Have you read Come & Gone?

As I said, I am off in a minute to start reading it. If it's anything like 'dog' it should be a great read.

I must sort all these books out, into keepers, and swopsies. The book traders on ebay are certainly doing good business with me :roll:

 

[kaiser]

No not yet, took me a while to get round to Dog for some reason and I read a so so review of it. Not much I haven't read mind you so I will get to it one day.

 

[Jamiedyer]

Come and gone is a great book. A worthy follow up in the same style.
Fallen Angel sounds like a good read, with a more outward looking style to it. I have the other two Coppi books, the large mainly photographic bio of him as well as Jean-Paul Ollivier's Fausto Coppi the true story which is a really thorough biography of the man and his life.
Thanks guys
Happy reading

Jamie

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

I was in Poundland in Birmingham yesterday (the one by the train station) and came across a book called "Bikie" by Charlie woods. Was on a 2 for £1 deal and they had quite a few copies. Looks good so far but have only read the first chapter. £7.19 at Amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bikie-Affair-Ra ... 1840186577

Ian.

 

[NeilM]

I've now finished Come & Gone. Very much the same self effacing, warts and all description of the life of a Pro Racer. This time more off than on road.

A thoroughly entertaining read, I genuinely had trouble putting the book down at times as I really wanted to know what happened next.

Two superbly written cycling books.

I'm going to have a second read of The Rider, as this is such an intense read, with so much detailed description, I am sure I will get more the second time around.

 

[richw93]

Anybody read Merckx - Half Man, Half bike by William Fotheringham?
Got it a few weeks ago and just finished, really well written, I'm also a rather new roadie so it gave me brilliant look into the aura that surrounds Merckx and his achievements.

 

[NeilM]

I like William Fotheringham as a writer, I have read a couple of his books already and have just started Fallen Angel, about Fausto Coppi. His chapter in the Cycling Anthology analysing Brad Wiggins's success at the TdF last year also shows his deep knowledge and understanding of his subject.

Search out his other books, I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

 

[NeilM]

I finished The Cycling Anthology Vol.1 last night. The book was actually bought for my son (by me) for Christmas, but as he's only read one chapter since then, I thought I'd blag it for a bit.

Some of the chapters read faster than others, some are shorter than others, but each essay is written by a top cycling journo and each is very nicely crafted.

Vol. 2 is due out any time, and I think each chapter is written by a rider or former rider, so it will be a very different book, but Vol. 1 is an interesting and entertaining peek behind the curtain of modern road cycling.

 

[NeilM]

Fallen Angel: The passion of Fausto Coppi.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0224074504/r ... 0224074504


Brilliant book in every way, really well written and insightful. More than just a log of events but a real study of Coppi, Bartali and Italy of the time, you get a real sense of how important cycling was and still is to Italians. Recommended *****.

I have just finished this book and in common with another of William Fotheringham's books "Put Me Back On My Bike", this is another well researched and thoroughly well written factual account of the life of an iconic cyclist.

What I really like about Fotheringham's writing is that you get a well rounded account of the subject, their lives, the races they took part in and notable incidents or situations along the way. This is because he really does his research, asking several different people independently about the same incident and then writing it up in an uncoloured style.


My copy is now up for swaps; what have you got that I have not yet read?