Has anybody read this book?

[Geoff Deakin]

I have just 'found' this book on Amazon:

"Go Like Hell - Ford and Ferrari and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans" by A.J. Baime.

The title sounds a bit 'blood and guts', but this title seems to have slipped under my radar!

Has anybody read it, and is it any good?

Cheers,

Geoff.

 

[Allan Feldman]

Hi Geoff
If its the book I think it is. Its in the form of interviews with participants (like a novel ) I do not believe it has any pictures. I know Claude was reading it when I spoke to him at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. I hope its less than £18.99 on Amazon?
Regards Allan

 

[Jim Craik]

Yes, I just finished it.

A fairly good overview of the Ford/Ferrari teams, Henry II and Enzo.

Fairly good bios of Phill Hill, Ken Miles and John Surtees.

Very little good info about the cars & very poor photos (the only pix of a GT40 is of a Superformance MKII):cry:

 

[Kirby Schrader]

Geoff,

I've read the book back about three weeks ago. Tried out Kindle on my iPhone to see how it'd work... so no pictures for me!

I found it entertaining. He interviewed a LOT of people and has quoted them directly. You get a much better feel for what kind of people they are/were. I was especially interested in Ken Miles. He seems to have been quite a guy... and engineer AND a decent driver.

I'd recommend the book. When I recommend a book, it means that once I started on it, I couldn't put it down.

FWIW,
Kirby

I have just 'found' this book on Amazon:

"Go Like Hell - Ford and Ferrari and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans" by A.J. Baime.

The title sounds a bit 'blood and guts', but this title seems to have slipped under my radar!

Has anybody read it, and is it any good?

Cheers,

Geoff.

 

[Geoff Deakin]

Hi Allan,

Yes, its £13.29 + P&P.

I'll have to get it!

 

[Mike Drew]

Just bought my copy on Amazon, new, for $14.88 plus $3.99 shipping. Thanks for the tip! :thumbsup:

 

[Gordo]

It's a good read. Any serious GT-40 fan should take the time to read it. It has a "bent" to it, but I won't go into that here. Well researched and it must have taken ages (with lots of patience) to write. By the way AJ is the editor of Playboy.

Gordon.

 

[Keith]

By the way AJ is the editor of Playboy.

Gordon.

And no centrefold...

Hmmmmmm
:uneasy:

 

[Jon Briggs]

I read it on holiday and really enjoyed it. Good stuff on Surtees, Miles, and the politics of racing in 60's America.

Well worth the £13.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Very well done, actually. And my 20 year old goddaughter, who is a motorhead of the first order, loved it as well....imagine that.

 

[Geoff Deakin]

Thanks everybody for all the info.

It'll be on my Birthday Wish List.

Cheers,

Geoff.

 

[RJB]

I thought it was ok, but nowhere close to Leo Levine's Ford: the Dust and the Glory (from which it appears to borrow liberally). If you're a John Surtees fan, you'll love it -- a fair portion of the book is an encomium to him.

 

[Jim Craik]

I though the book was ok, but a truly good book I picked up at Monterey:

"Racing in the rain" by John Horsman. Trust me this is good stuff, written by someone who was there and took good notes.

 

[Aussie Kid]

Mmmm may make my birthday list also....

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

RJB; is the Leo Levine book still available? I'd like to read it.

 

[Mike Drew]

Just bought my copy on Amazon, new, for $14.88 plus $3.99 shipping. Thanks for the tip! :thumbsup:

Just finished reading it--it's a good airplane/beach book. Seemingly written by a writer who didn't really know anything about what he's writing about beforehand, i.e. a general journalist rather than an automotive enthusiast. He simply did a bunch of excellent research which enabled him to get the job done.

(I know a guy who has written a dozen or more books, on things about which he had zero knowledge beforehand. The publisher would just say, "We want you to write a book about the planets", so he'd go do a bunch of research and knock out a terrific book. Some people are gifted that way).

It's also written for a more general audience who has no prior knowledge of the events, people, cars etc. as opposed to an enthusiast audience, so it's a little bit light and basic.

It was interesting getting some personal insights into some of the people involved; it's a character study as much as it is a book about racing cars.

Overall it's worthwhile, though.

 

[JimmyMac]

I though the book was ok, but a truly good book I picked up at Monterey:

"Racing in the rain" by John Horsman. Trust me this is good stuff, written by someone who was there and took good notes.

Jim
I agree - 'Racing In The Rain' has very informative anecdotal information on the set-ups. I like it.

 

[Jack]

Read it this race weekend at Roebling Road, in the evenings. Good read but nothing special. Worth the few $ though...

 

[RJB]

RJB; is the Leo Levine book still available? I'd like to read it.

The original has been out of print for decades, but is still often findable on Ebay or Alibris.com. The book was reissued in 2001 by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and is still sold by them at Book Search Results - SAE BOOKSTORE.

Only problem with the reissue is that the photos (likely reproduced from the first edition, not original film or plates) are of not great quality. The book, however, remains fantastic. I read it for the first time when i was a kid and it literally changed my life -- doubt I'd be spending time on this site otherwise.

BTW -- Levine wrote and SAE published a second volume covering 1968 - 2000 which isn't nearly as interesting, largely because the racing was a lot less interesting during those years.

 

[Allan Feldman]

Hi Jim
Very little good info about the cars & very poor photos (the only pix of a GT40 is of a Superformance MKII)

I just had a chance to quickly view this book.The MKII is not a superperformance but the Ford Press car P1008 posing as a MkII as it appeared at the 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed. When the event clashed with the Classic Le Mans.
The Picture above it states a 1966 P3 Ferrari. When it is in fact a 1967 330P4!!!
Regards Allan