Sprinting Through No Mans Land Endurance Tragedy & Rebirth in the 1919 Tour de France

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In his debut novel, Adin Dobkin takes the reader through what was arguably one of the most grueling Tour De France’ in history, with a storyline that leaves the reader on the edge of their seat, from the days when the fate of the race itself was yet to be determined, to its finale on the streets of Paris months later. With France still reeling from the ravages of the Great War, roadways pocked with the scars of Germany’s long assault, 67 riders began a Tour that would traverse the war-torn country, navigating between towns that were no longer, towns that had barely survived, and some that would take decades to regain some semblance of normalcy. In the best of times this weeks-long, arduous journey would have taxed the most steely of riders. In the end, only 11 brave souls would get to the finish line. Take my word for it, this book is not just for cyclists, WWI buffs, or even non-fiction readers (include me in the “none of the above” groups). Dobkin vividly captures a place in time and the people (promoters, cyclists, etc.) who strove to provide relief to a country, if not the whole world, in the aftermath of a global disaster. With a prose that is concise and at the same time lush, a voice that draws one into the story, and a backdrop that feels eerily prescient on the eve of the 108th TdeF, Adin Dobkin gives us a remarkable story that will entertain the most demanding of readers.