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LATEST POSTS
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Territorial Politics And Irish Cycling, Kevin Howard (2006)
Institute For British-Irish Studies 1649 0304 19pp
A fascinating pamphlet on the troubled story of the organisation
of competitive cycling in Ireland
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The Best Of Bicycling! ed Harley M Leete (1970)
Pocket Books 671 78534 6 paperback 465pp $1.95
Seventy eight articles culled from the US magazine Bicycling!'s
late 1960s numbers that are as lively, fascinating and, horizon-expanding,
as they were on original publication
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Wonder Wheels, Eileen Sheridan (1956)
Nicholas Kaye Sexto 158pp
A charming, period piece of an autobiography by the dominant force
in UK women's cycling during the early 1950s
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Stamp Collecting For The Cyclist, Ronald F Sudbury (1981)
Harry Hayes Philatelic Study 0 905222 42 3 Octo 60pp
An illustrated catalogue of stamps issued between 1887 and 1979
that feature bicycles
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Cycling Profile Road Book Of England (1919)
Cycling 7cm x 14cm 142pp
A pocket book providing distances, altitude profiles and notes
on road surfaces, covering journeys between the principal destinations
of the Kingdom
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The Pop Up Tour De France, Pamela Pease (2009)
Paintbox Press 9780966943375 Folio 14pp $36
An imaginative introduction to the great race, with a sound text,
and some fun - if not ground-breaking - paper engineering
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The Bicycle - the complete BBC series, David Taylor (1990)
York Films/BBC
six programmes of 20 minutes £15.99
A well-made and insightful series of television programs on all
aspects of cycling
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Johnny Ginger's Last Ride, Tom Fremantle (2000)
Pan Books 0 333 37692 6 paperback 464pp £7.99
A surprisingly enjoyable and insightful account of a twenty-something
journalist's solo ride from the UK to Australia in 1996
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Cycling Country Lanes & Byways (Suffolk), Al Churcher (2008)
Goldeneye 1 85965 132 1 folds out to 70cm x 48cm (double sided)
£5.99
An attractively produced return of 'the cyclists' favourite' scale
of maps that has much to recommend it but can be struggle for some
route finding
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100 Years Of Bicycle Posters, Jack Rennert (1973)
Hart-Davis MacGibbon 0 246 107774 X Folio 112pp £2.75
A fabulous collection of colour reproductions of cycling posters,
mainly from the early years of the twentieth century, with a perceptive
introduction and notes on each plate
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The Amber Trail, Natasha Scott-Stokes (1993)
Weidenfield and Nicholson 0 297 81306 4 Octo 199 pp £17.99
A ride from Gdansk to Thessaloniki in 1992, initially intended
to recreate the ancient route on which amber was transported, but
better for its descriptions of some of eastern Europe shortly after
the fall of the Berlin wall
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The Bicycle Wheel, Jobst Brandt (1981)
Acocet 0 9607236 4 1 Octo 150pp $10.95
A treatise, nearly as elegant as its subject, that guides readers
through the physics and engineering of this remarkable invention
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Sloane's Complete Book Of Bicycling, Eugene A Sloane (1970 - 1995)
Fireside 0 671 86075 0 Octo 429pp £9.99
An encyclopaedic guide to bicycle buying, maintenance and use.
Aimed at the new rider, it is rich in sound wisdom, if a little
wearing in its determination to be comprehensive
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Twelve Wheels From Turkey, Anne Vardy (1988)
Marshall, Morgan and Scott 0 551 01776 7 paperback 196pp £2.99
Vardy, her husband and five pre-teen children cycle from Istanbul
back to Blighty in the spring and summer of 1987, in a journey partially
propelled by the family's ever-visible Christian faith
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Its Not About The Bike, Lance Armstrong (2000)
Yellow Jersey Press 0 224 06086 4 Octo 275pp £17
A massively successful account of Armstrong's life up to his first
Tour victory that is as skilfully tailored to the cancer community
and general market, as it is unsatisfying to a cycle enthusiast
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The Golden Age Of Handbuilt Bicycles, Jan Heine and Jean-Pierre
Praderes (2009)
Rizzoli International Publications
978 0 8478 3094 7 Quarto 168pp $50
A sumptuous photographic history of French touring bicycles manufactured
between 1930 and 1950 that recounts a little-known period of cycling
history and celebrates two-wheeled engineering at its most delightful
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A Place To Cycle, Rob Penn (2005)
Conran Octopus 1 84091 391 7 Quarto 160 pp £16.99
A lavishly illustrated catalogue of 25 suggested 'amazing cycle
tours' around the world that is as potently inspiring as it is practically
threadbare
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A Bike Ride, Anne Mustoe (1991)
Virgin Books 1 85227 337 2 Octo 250pp £14.99
The author gives up her job as headmistress of a girls boarding
schools and spends 1987 and 1988 cycling around the world. Following
the route of Alexander the Great, this rewarding travelogue is steeped
in her enthusiasm for the classics
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A Wheel Within A Wheel, Frances E Willard (1895)
Fleming H Revel 1 55707 449 7 Paberback 75pp republished by Applewood
Books
How a 53-year-old American suffragette learned to ride a bicycle
against her own and societies’ expectations on the eve of the
twentieth century
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Its Not About The Tapas, Polly Evans (2003)
Bantam Books 0 553 81556 3 Paperback 301pp £6.99
An enjoyable account of a solo bicycle journey made around parts
of Spain made (probably) in 2002. It would serve as a good primer
to Spain but also have something for those who know the country
well
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Put Me Back On My Bike – In Search Of Tom Simpson, William
Fotheringham (2002)
Yellow Jersey Press 978 0224 08018 7 Paperback 254pp £8.99
An account of the life of the British star of 1960s cycling that
raises the bar for cycling biography
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About this site
We aim, in time, to review all books in English
about all aspects of cycling. Do send suggestions for material that
we have not yet included, or if you are a publisher, email for our
postal details to which titles can be sent. Comments on our reviews
are also welcome and will, where possible, be added to our reviews.
tim@timdawsn.demon.co.uk
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How this site is organised
As reviews are added, they are featured on the
front page. All titles are listed in the master index and cross-referenced
in the other indicies.
The subject line contains the title, author and
date of each book's publication. As a general rule, we list the
date of the actual edition that we read, unless there is an obvious
reason to use the original date (say where we read a reprint).
The first line of the main text contains the name
of the publisher, the ISBN
number, where it exists, an indication of the book's
size and the number of printed pages that it contains. Finally,
where it is clear, I list the published price of the work in the
currency that is most prominently displayed.
We summarise the book in a single sentence or two
in the next line. The rest of the review is then intended as a self-contained
piece.
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Other lists of cycling books
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Our favourite books about cycle racing
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Hard-to-find books to snap up if you see them
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Contributors to this site
• Site editor, Tim Dawson is a
journalist who lives in Suffolk
• Pedalspinner works in cycle promotion and lives
in Perthshire
• Araf Slow works in a bike shop in central London
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Travelogue to lift your horizons
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An amazing place to stay in the Scottish highlands
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