Riding in the Zone Rouge: The Tour of the Battlefields 1919 by Tom Isitt

[simond9x]

I've just read an article about this book in the August edition of 'Bulletin'. It sounds like an interesting read and gets good reviews on Amazon. I just wondered if anyone here has read it and, if so, could  comment on the number of photographs included in the book. There are several accompanying the article but it's unclear (to me) if they are actually taken from the book. If it's reasonably well illustrated, I'll be buying it. Thanks

[simond9x]

OK, 53 views, 0 replies, so I thought "sod it, I'll buy it" and I have absolutely no regrets. I haven't actually finished it yet but it is just so 'readable' and enjoyable that I thought I'd put a post up. There may be historical inaccuracies, I don't know, but it's a real page turner. Roughly split into 'an account of the race itself through war-torn landscapes' (45%); an account of the author following their route (45%); and imagined conversations between 1919 cyclists (10%), As a WW1 enthusiast, I actually enjoyed more, the trials and tribulations of the author as he tries (his best) to follow their route. I'm really enjoying this book!

Edited 8 September , 2019 by simond9x

[simond9x]

Highly recommended, best book I’ve read since ‘Deborah’.

[Marilyne]

Simon,

 

if I'd seen your first post earlier, I might have answered… that I have no idea…

my first idea was that is was about a horse-tour... LOL "riding"... like the seminal "riding the retreat"...

but based on your raving review, I just downloaded the preview on my kindl for later purchase… or not!

 

Thanks for your inputs!

 

M.

[tomisitt]

Absolutely delighted you enjoyed it. Thanks for your kind words.

Tom

[simond9x]

32 minutes ago, tomisitt said:

Absolutely delighted you enjoyed it. Thanks for your kind words.

Tom

My pleasure! I enjoyed it so much that I ordered a second copy and sent it, anonymously, to a cyclist friend of mine. He’s ridden the Pyrenees West to East, and France North to South. Hopefully it’ll ‘pull him’ into WW1 interest too. If not, I hope he enjoys it as a cycling book as much as I did. Do you by any chance have any additional photos of the 1919 race that you didn’t include in the book? (I suspect not but still....)

[Bob Davies 102]

I read this story in the Bulletin, as an old 1940/50s racing cyclist found the story fascinating, must get the book.

Bob  

[tomisitt]

11 hours ago, simond9x said:

My pleasure! I enjoyed it so much that I ordered a second copy and sent it, anonymously, to a cyclist friend of mine. He’s ridden the Pyrenees West to East, and France North to South. Hopefully it’ll ‘pull him’ into WW1 interest too. If not, I hope he enjoys it as a cycling book as much as I did. Do you by any chance have any additional photos of the 1919 race that you didn’t include in the book? (I suspect not but still....)

As far as I know, there are only a handful of photos of the race in existence, the best of which were used in the book. There are a couple of others that might be of the Circuit des Champs de Bataille, but might also be of the Paris-Roubaix race from 1919. The best source of post-war battlefields is still the Michelin guides.

Tom

[JohnC]

On 15/08/2019 at 16:35, simond9x said:

I've just read an article about this book in the August edition of 'Bulletin'. It sounds like an interesting read and gets good reviews on Amazon. I just wondered if anyone here has read it and, if so, could  comment on the number of photographs included in the book. There are several accompanying the article but it's unclear (to me) if they are actually taken from the book. If it's reasonably well illustrated, I'll be buying it. Thanks

Excellent book, just finished reading it. Also has a very useful bibliography towards the immediate post-war battlefield situation, something which is rarely written about and deserves more attention.

[healdav]

I'm reading the book now. One thing which I have now found annoying is that his geography is rather bizarre.

He describes riding out of Paris through Meaux, and then getting to Verdun. After that he heads for Rheims! on the way to Strasbourg.

This is ridiculous. Rheims is west of Verdun and on the same road from Paris. Didn't he look at a map before writing the book?

[tomisitt]

9 hours ago, healdav said:

I'm reading the book now. One thing which I have now found annoying is that his geography is rather bizarre.

He describes riding out of Paris through Meaux, and then getting to Verdun. After that he heads for Rheims! on the way to Strasbourg.

This is ridiculous. Rheims is west of Verdun and on the same road from Paris. Didn't he look at a map before writing the book?

Hi healdav, I think you may have that slightly confused. As per the maps in the book, I rode from Meaux (just outside Paris) to Reims, then east to Verdun, south-east to Belfort, then north-east to Strasbourg. Sorry if that isn’t clear in the book. Hope you enjoy it otherwise.

Tom

[healdav]

14 hours ago, tomisitt said:

Hi healdav, I think you may have that slightly confused. As per the maps in the book, I rode from Meaux (just outside Paris) to Reims, then east to Verdun, south-east to Belfort, then north-east to Strasbourg. Sorry if that isn’t clear in the book. Hope you enjoy it otherwise.

Tom

What you did is what you have to do. You wouldn't go from London to Liverpool in order to get to Birmingham.

[tomisitt]

1 hour ago, healdav said:

What you did is what you have to do. You wouldn't go from London to Liverpool in order to get to Birmingham.

Indeed you wouldn’t, unless you were following the route of a race that went from London to Birmingham via Liverpool. The route of the Circuit des Champs de Bataille took a convoluted anti-clockwise loop around the Western Front, with a diversion into Paris for financial and political reasons. I suppose it made sense to the organisers.

[The Scorer]

This is another book that's just arrived and is on the pile to be read.

[mjh]

just read this thread. I bought the kindle version as soon as it came out. it's a great read. Well done Tom ! 

Edited 31 March , 2020 by mjh

[Michelle Young]

Used part of my birthday money to buy this. Looking forward to reading it

[tomisitt]

On 31/03/2020 at 21:43, mjh said:

just read this thread. I bought the kindle version as soon as it came out. it's a great read. Well done Tom ! 

Thank you, so glad you enjoyed it.

[Michelle Young]

It arrived today. Looking forward to reading it 

[The Scorer]

I was interested in this book when I saw mention of it at the start of this topic, as it was something that I'd never heard of - and thought I ought to know about.

 

Well, I found it absolutely fascinating, both in a historical sense and the modern attempt by the author to follow in their footsteps (or should that be wheel tracks?). The background to the race is well described and easy to understand for a non-cyclist, and the description of what the originals had to go through is amazing.

 

It has good guys, badd(ish) guys, the ordinary riders, and of course, a hero! This is Louis Ellner of France, who started the race last, and finished last (winning the Lanterne Rouge as the last finisher on every stage) but the description of what he had to go through is stunning. I'm absolutely sure that I wouldn't want do what he did (and equally sure that I couldn't!) so I have the fullest of admiration for him.

 

The story of the original race and the writer's journey is woven together very well, and the latter does not interfere with the former. I'm not a cyclist and never have been, although I know quite a few people who are, but I would recommend this book to both kinds of people. 

 

My thanks to Tom for producing the book - and well done for completing the course!

[Michelle Young]

Very enjoyable and interesting reading, not particularly taxing but what I needed at the present moment. 

[aengland]

Also just finished reading this.  A fascinating book..... tough men riding in tough conditions.  I was particularly fascinated by the acceptance that alcohol and drugs were OK, and that the riders had to repair their own bikes!  I ride a bike around Norfolk's country lanes but this placed my easy riding into perspective, just the weather that these riders experienced was something else, let alone the road conditions!  Well, I salute them!  An easy and good read. ACE

[tomisitt]

FYI, the paperback edition is published today and is available at all good bookshops and online retailers, priced £9.99 (or less on Amazon)

[frev]

On 12/06/2020 at 00:47, tomisitt said:

FYI, the paperback edition is published today and is available at all good bookshops and online retailers, priced £9.99 (or less on Amazon)

 

 

Thank you so much Tom for a great read – well worth the wait (the book having to travel half way across the world in these troubled times)

It also helped (if only for a few days) to take my mind off the lack of current bike racing!

 

Cheers, Frev

 

[healdav]

On 28/04/2020 at 21:00, aengland said:

Also just finished reading this.  A fascinating book..... tough men riding in tough conditions.  I was particularly fascinated by the acceptance that alcohol and drugs were OK, and that the riders had to repair their own bikes!  I ride a bike around Norfolk's country lanes but this placed my easy riding into perspective, just the weather that these riders experienced was something else, let alone the road conditions!  Well, I salute them!  An easy and good read. ACE

Just think if the Tour de France as today had to contend with these conditions, and repair their own bikes on the road! That would make it worth watching. As it is it is really a display of dangerous driving by all the accompanying wagon train. The cyclists are irrelevant as the race is timed to the minute. How do they know? On the two occasions when we have had the delights of them going through my village, the roads were closed from 7 a.m. and the cyclists were timed to go through from 1100 to 100.45 secs! The rest was scrubbing the road and watching interminable lines of vehicles going hurtling through, with thousands of people not being able to go to work because of the closed roads and the lack of public transport i.e. cancelled due to closed roads.

[tomisitt]

15 hours ago, frev said:

 

Thank you so much Tom for a great read – well worth the wait (the book having to travel half way across the world in these troubled times)

 

It also helped (if only for a few days) to take my mind off the lack of current bike racing!

 

 

 

Cheers, Frev

 

 

So glad you enjoyed it, always nice to get feedback. Thank you.