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Zusatztext "A comprehensive history of France from the race's inception! long before Greg LeMond or Lance Armstrong were born." Informationen zum Autor Christopher S. Thompson is Associate Professor of History at Ball State University. Klappentext "Shows that sport has been for us moderns the ultimate tabula rasa into which we pour our hopes, fears, prejudices and self-interest."—Robert A. Nye, author of Crime, Madness, & Politics in Modern France and Masculinity and Male Codes of Honor in Modern France "Chris Thompson has written an engaging, nicely-paced account of France's world-famous cycle race: his writing is lively and full of detail and excitement. But he has done much more than simply narrate the story of the Tour. His book sets the race—its history, its participants and its meaning—firmly in its shifting national and cultural contexts. The sections dealing with professional cycling as a form of labor and with the Tour's place in France's troubled twentieth century are absolutely first-rate: insightful and original. This is the best history of the Tour that we have and are likely to have for many years, a work of scholarship that deserves to find a broad general readership."—Tony Judt, author of Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 Zusammenfassung Tells the story of the Tour de France since its creation in 1903. This book links the history of the Tour to key moments and themes in French history. It examines the popularity of Tour racers, and explores how their public images have changed. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface to the 2008 Edition Acknowledgments Introduction 1. La Grande Boucle: Cycling, Progress, and Modernity 2. Itineraries, Narratives, and Identities 3· The Geants de La Route: Gender and Heroism 4. L 'Auto's Ouvriers de La PedaLe: Work, Class, and the Tour de France, 1903-1939 5· The Forr;ats de La Route: Exploits, Exploitation, and the Politics of Athletic Excess, 1903-1939 6. What Price Heroism? Work, Sport, and Drugs in Postwar France Epilogue Appendix: Racers' Occupations Notes Bibliography Index ...
