Long out of print and difficult to find, this was Daley's first book about Grand Prix racing in the late 50s and early 60s. Unlike Daley's other classic "The Cruel Sport" (recently reissued), which was primarily a photo essay supplemented by text, this book is entirely text. Daley's format is to write a chapter on each of the Grand Prix circuits of that era (Nurburgring, Monza, Silverstone, Zandvoort, Spa, Monaco, etc.), discussing each circuit's qualities, history, great races, controversies, and accidents.
Daley approaches each circuit anecdotally, often by focusing on the the triumphs and tragedies of a particular driver, e.g., the Marquis de Portago, Phil Hill, Stirling Moss, and Jean Behra, among others. Daley does NOT focus on the technical aspects of racing, or on the cars themselves, but on the drivers. He brings an almost mystical attitude to the sport, which will be as appealing to romantics as it will be off-putting to nuts-and-bolts types.
Daley situates the circuits in their historical and geographical context, always aware of the beauty and danger surrounding the sport, and how the sport has at times intersected with politics and the world beyond racing. For a romantic look at a Grand Prix world now passed into memory, you can't do better than this.
Published 1962.
