Mille Miglia The Ferrari & Mercedes Years 1952-1957: Racing

informative concise reports of the time

love to read about the heroes of my childhood, and the stories my dad used to talk about, wish the photos were clearer

In the tradition of the Brooklands series, we have here a collection of contemporary articles covering perhaps the greatest era of the Mille Miglia. Across six years we see the rise of manufacturer involvement and increasing status of the event, right up until that fateful final running.Each year has a few pages of introductory text to contextualise and report on the race. However, it's left to the magazine articles, driver interviews and road tests to tell the real story. Whether it's Jenks' view from the passenger seat of Moss' factory SLR, or tales from further down the field in private MGs, there are plenty of interesting articles. There's also a retrospective from 1975 where a 'modern' Mercedes is taken round the route.What the book does show is how reporting styles have changed so much in the past fifty odd years - you can't imagine many articles today explaining bore and stroke, or breezing past the tragic De Portago accident with barely a mention.The reason I've given 4 stars is down to the look of the book; the articles are taken straight from their original magazine or paper and seem to have been compressed a little, so the text is quite small and picture quality is only average. Still, a great collection and a worthwhile addition to any Mille Miglia or 50s sports car racing fan's bookshelf.