24 Hours

This is an excellent overview of Le Mans history by an author who always manages to come up with 'different' information on any subject

This book is so packed with information I will read it a second time to get the most out of it. Definitely one for the real enthusiast. Richard Williams must have spent many hours on researching various sources, well done to him.

A superbly written history of the 24 Heures du Mans. There are better picture books, but I doubt there are any better scripted.

I normally find Mr Williams' books a little dull in the literary style, they don't quite come to life for me, but this one has plenty of interesting, obscure facts that I didn't know about, even about the seven races I went to. However, the mis-spelling of Peter Revson's name on page 246 is surely the fault of an over-zealous copy editor who assumed that his surname was the same as Daddy's cosmetics company. Am really enjoying the section on the 80's (my era) - definitely worth reading for a Le Mans enthusiast .

Fascinating history of the great race. Written in Richard Williams usual clear and engaging style.

A good potted history of the most famous motor race in the world.

Normally I like Richard Williams, a well known motor racing author who has published several books including one on the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix which was won by Stirling Moss a British racing driver famous for winning the 1955 Mille Miglia a 1000 mile race around Italy, a country in Europe which is a long thin peninsula of land that juts out into the Mediteranian Ocean, an almost land locked body of water which is separated from the Atlantic Ocean, being the ocean that seperates Africa, one of the seven continents of the world.........Seriously the whole book seems like it is going to be a never ending parade of facts strung along like this and never actually getting to the point of sequentially discussing the actual RACE!

Very readable history of Le Mans.

Read a review about this book in a UK racing magazine and was pleasantly surprised to find I could order it at Amazon and at great price. Book arrived in perfect condition! I am a happy customer!

Ottima storia riassunta in 500 pagine della più famosa gara di durata della storia del motorsport. L'autore riesce a fare un sunto di ogni singola edizione con aneddoti e considerazioni che portano il lettore a farsi un idea assai precisa dell'evoluzione della gara e della tecnica delle auto protagoniste lungo i 100 anni di questa unica e fantastica competizione,dagli albori dell'auto ad oggi. Consigliato a chi ama il motorsport in tutte le sue discipline e a chi vuole farsi un idea della storia e della sua evoluzione.

I have just finished reading "24 Hours 100 Years of Le Mans" by Richard Williams. This book was published in 2023 and is just under 500 pages (447 pages of narrative) along with numerous B&W and colour photographs, with two appendixes providing details on the various race circuits and changes over the years along with the overall winners from 1923 to 2022.For a novice to this historical racing event this book offers an engaging and reasonably detailed account of this amazing race and the people involved. The author provides a complete overview of the events leading to the formation of this race and its history from its early days to the current period, ending in 2022.I knew very little of the Le Mans 24 Hours race other than bits and pieces I picked up over the years covering Steve McQueen and of course the movie "Ford v Ferrari". If you are looking for just one good book to give you a decent, interesting and fun read about this race then this is the book for you.Some of the interesting titbits I picked up while reading this book was that during the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour race there was one very interesting driver/contestant:"Quartered at the Hotel du Cygne in Yvre-l Eveque were the all-female crew of a Ferrari 166 MM: Yvonne Simon, the car's French owner, and her co-driver, Betty Haig. A grand-niece of the commander of the British Expeditionary Force in the Great War, Haig had won a 2,000-mile rally run alongside the 1936 Olympic Games and was a regular competitor at British race meetings."Some interesting cars and drivers appeared for the 1953 Le Mans 24-hour race:"Two Pegasos arrived from Barcelona to make their debut, the sound of their engines disturbing those attending Sunday mass as they set off from the Hotel Cotin in Le Grand-Luce on a two-hour test drive. Wilfredo Ricart, Alfa Romeo's chief designer in the late 1930s, had set up the company in 1946. Their first vehicles were trucks, but in 1951 they launched the Z-102, a two-seater with a supercharged 2,8-litre V8 engine that could propel it past 150mph, making it the world's fastest production car. Among their drivers was Prince Paul von Metternich, the great-grandson of a former Chancellor of the Austrian Empire."The author also provided a chapter on the devastating accident that occurred during the 1955 Le Mans which killed 83 spectators and the French driver Pierre Levegh, and injured around 120 more. Another interesting bit of information was how drivers from the Thames Ditton factory used an area on the M1 in England to test drive their high-speed cars for preparation for the Le Mans. One AC Cobra did four test runs reaching a speed of around 180mph. When the story got out the UK government introduced a four-month trial of a 70mph limit for UK roads. This temporary measure was extended several times until, in 1978, it became permanent.For me this book was a joy to read, and I am sure for a motor sports enthusiast or just a person who enjoys reading something different and interesting this would be the perfect book.