A snippet of history

During lockdown we all had to find ways to amuse ourselves. Ned Boulting, who is a cycling commentator and journalist, occupied himself by doing a bit of research. He purchased online a clip of film which shows a fraction of a stage of the Tour de France cycle race from 1923 and the year becamethe name he gave to his book about what he found.

The clip showed a group of competitors riding through a town in rural France and the breakaway of one rider who crosses a bridge as the lone leader. It’s not the beginning or the end of the stage and the clip is very short – you can find it online. From this one sequence the author was able to narrow down which stage it was, who the main riders were, how this activity linked to the longer race and who was watching the race in some of the frames. He then puts this in context by describing the race organisation at the time, the lives and careers of the prominent riders as well as those shown in the clip, and what France was like in 1923. He is then able to visit the town concerned – after lockdown, of course, although ironically his visit there is curtailed because he catches Covid.

This is exactly the sort of popular history that I like. The author shares with us the methods that he uses to find out what he wants to know and the dead ends that he encounters along the way. He introduces us to other researchers and archivists whom he consults. He gets diverted occasionally by snippets of information that he, and I, find interesting even if they are peripheral. He meets living relatives of the people about whom he is writing.

The author knows his cycling but that isn’t really the main focus of the book. That belongs to the people in the pictures and their stories which I found absolutely fascinating. I completely enjoyed this book and don’t think that the readership should be limited to those of us who know a little bit about cycling – this is for anyone who is interested in early twentieth century social history or in France and its culture. I was captivated by this book and the stories that unfold within its pages.