The Tour de France is established each year as an endurance race that lasts for about an entire month and encompasses the entire range of French lands. In 1919, following the armistice ending World War One, the Tour resumed after a multi-year hiatus. It included areas in the northeast that were decimated from warfare. Many of the riders, too, had personally experienced the tumults of war. The French people needed something to boost morale as they began the long task of rebuilding. Dobkin combines all these tales together into a coherent and intriguing piece of literature.
The course was particularly long and hard that year. The riders could not use vehicles to pace, additional bikes to replace, or even extra help in repairs. Only an astounding eleven riders completed the race out of the seventy-something who began the trek. The race, like the war, was a feat of attrition and endurance.
By tying individual stories into the piece, Dobkin maintains human interest while reaching into their histories with the military. Photographs accompany each chapter to bring the scenery to the readers’ minds. It is difficult to tell a story of endurance without becoming repetitive, but by bringing in the cultural history of the war, Dobkin avoids that pitfall.
In normal years, the Tour’s athletes, facing massive mountain climbs in the Pyrenees and the Alps, tend to inspire fans. After the embittering war, France needed the Tour to lead it into a new world. Sports, at its best, guides society into embracing its better self. Such is no different with this story. The 1919 Tour reminded France that it needed strategy, endurance, hope, and a bit of luck to rebuild.
This book has appeal to fans of European history and of sports. It can educate readers of one group about the other group’s interests. I learned much about cycling and France through this work. Despite the male bias that comprised the characters of this tale, Dobkin even manages to tie women’s contributions into the narrative. Overall, the variety of themes and stories weave an interesting tapestry where none might have existed to the untrained eye.
Sprinting Through No Man’s Land: Endurance, Tragedy, and Rebirth in the 1919 Tour de France
By Adin Dobkin
Copyright (c) 2021
Little A
ISBN13 9781542018821
Page Count: 301
Genre: Sports, History
www.amazon.com