"Obsession" is a good word to describe the author's passion for this writing after he found the film clip that is the subject of this book. Here is my review:
Title/Author:
“1923: The Mystery of Lot 212 and a Tour de France Obsession” by Ned Boulting
Rating:
3 of 5 stars (good)
Review: During the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020, author Ned Boulting bought a spool of film that featured a clip from stage 4 of the 1923 Tour de France. This book could be considered a dedication to the obsession that Boulting soon had to find out as much information as he could about the people in the film clip and the events surrounding that race.
Boulting does a yeoman’s job of research, interviews (as best he could during lockdowns) and writing in order to gain this material. The book itself covers a lot of material and that is both good and bad. The bad: Boulting diverges a lot from the film and the race and writes much about French and German history and important figures. It is interesting, but it takes a lot of attention away from the main topic – the race and the stage 4 winner, Theofile Beekman.
Beekman is the lone rider who crosses a bridge (which had its own history, covered by Boulting, of course) on the film and he won stages but the overall winner was Henri Pélissier. The stories of Beekman, Pelissier and others in the race were really interesting as were the writings about the Tour itself. Had the book concentrated on the riders, the pieces in the film and the riders, it would have been a much better read.
I wish to thank Bloomsbury Sport for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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