Sprinting Through No Man's Land: Endurance, Tragedy, and Rebirth in the 1919 Tour de France| 4 stars

[Joanne]

Sprinting Through No Man's Land: Endurance, Tragedy, and Rebirth in the 1919 Tour de France 4 stars

Many reviewers expressed their disappointment of this book. Not I, it was so much more than I anticipated.

It is 1919, right after the end of WWI. 67 cyclists, some of them former participants of the war, raced around France in the thirteenth Tour de France through the remnants of the war-torn country.

Adin Dobkin is a journalist and this was his first book. His writing talent shines through. So descriptive, you could feel the roughness of the road as the cyclists traveled through the old battle fields. You could also take in the beauty of the mountainous stretches' and experience the devastation that had completely changed the landscape and beauty of the country. Many of the towns the race had run through, in previous years, were gone-just gone.

The creator of the Tour placed himself on precarious ground with deciding to run the race that year. In part this was a greedy decision on his part, as the race was a part of his livelihood. However, he also felt that running the race would lift the spirits of the countrymen who had gone through so much.

There is a lot of history of the participants included in the book, and there are parts of the war re-told. The book is not just about cycling, there is a message that resounds throughout of the resilience of man, the message of country and pride.

[Booknblues]

This has been on my tbr since it came out. It is now on my subdue list, so I may get to it this year.

I'm glad that you liked it, so thank you for your review.

[Joanne]

I hope you enjoy it as much as I

[Joy D]

I am reading this now, and enjoying it too.