Tony Dodgins

Formula One: The Rivals, by Tony Dodgins, is both a visually fun book as well as a fascinating history told through some of the big rivalries.

What makes any coffee table book a coffee table book are the photographs and illustrations, that is why they are large format. And that is why I enjoy these books. This volume does not disappoint in that area. Something about race cars, especially Formula One cars, is exciting, and if you've ever attended a race, they bring back the thunder as they pass your position. This book also includes a lot of pictures of the drivers, obviously since it is about the rivalries. It was great to see faces I had long forgotten and a few I don't recall at all even though I knew the name.

What sets this book apart from many large format books is the text. The rivalries are fun to read about, whether you remember them all or not. The writing is very good and had me looking for videos online to enhance the reading experience. This is the kind of book that would have been a fun read even if there had been fewer photographs but having a lot of beautiful pictures made it that much better.

In addition to Formula One fans, I think anyone who loves cars and/or the human side of any competition will find a lot here to enjoy.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (altro)

F1: The Pinnacle by Simon Arron is an ideal book for anyone with an interest in Formula 1 racing, from diehard fan to casual newcomer. I fall somewhere in between and this helped fill in some of my gaps as well as renew my interest.

Like many people, my interest has often been tied to where in the world I was living at a given time. So for years I followed fairly closely while others I looked pretty much only at results. So for me parts of this book were nostalgic and some really opened my eyes.

While taken as a whole the history of F1 is here, it isn't written as a single history but as a lot of important events, as the subtitle mentions. But with the seven sections of the book (Sporting, Circuits, Technical, Controversies, Safety, Personalities, and Commercial) it is almost like getting seven histories of the sport, each from a different perspective.

The photography was wonderful and served well as support for the text. As I tend to do, I searched for quite a few names and events online to get even more information (and more pictures). This is not because the book didn't offer enough but because it piqued my curiosity about names and events that I knew little about.

Whether you're a lifelong fan or someone new to the sport, you will find a lot here to enjoy.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (altro)