fallen angel coppi book

brakelever

just finished the book by william fotheringham on fausto coppi , never new much about him other than being one of the great italian riders ,what a stunning read any body else read it ?

Moomaloid

Fantastic book, and such a sad and needless end to his life... I think its heroes like Coppi and his rivals and the stories about their duels that make me love the sport so much. You don't get those stories in other sports.

thomasmc

As well as being about Coppi, it’s also about a very turbulent period in Italian history. From rebuilding a country from the ruin it was in after the war, the move away from fascism & the gradual drift towards secularism Coppi (& Bartali) were huge characters in all of this.

The book however felt a bit flat for me. Among a few issues I had with it, I was looking forward to a good discussion of the various “passing the bottle” photographs as for me they represented the rivalry as much as the various Tour & Giro wins but they was barely mentioned.

I knew that “La Dama in bianco” always got a very bad press in Italy for wrecking his marriage and was blamed by some for his demise but I was expecting a more sympathetic portrayal of her. She does come across as a right gold digger though & not particularly pleasant person.

Good read all the same

dulldave

thomasmc wrote:

As well as being about Coppi, it’s also about a very turbulent period in Italian history. From rebuilding a country from the ruin it was in after the war, the move away from fascism & the gradual drift towards secularism Coppi (& Bartali) were huge characters in all of this.

The book however felt a bit flat for me. Among a few issues I had with it, I was looking forward to a good discussion of the various “passing the bottle” photographs as for me they represented the rivalry as much as the various Tour & Giro wins but they was barely mentioned.

I knew that “La Dama in bianco” always got a very bad press in Italy for wrecking his marriage and was blamed by some for his demise but I was expecting a more sympathetic portrayal of her. She does come across as a right gold digger though & not particularly pleasant person.

Good read all the same

I thought the book was OK. I like to be transported into the races rather than just reading "Then Coppi won Race X before winning Race Y and coming second in Race Z"

Neil McC

I too thought it was a fantastic read, intend to read it again soon.

I believe there is work on a Gino Bartali book. Should be interesting given his life during WW2.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/97 ... of-Tuscany

It used to be listed as coming out 2011 (I think) on Amazon's website. However it's not there any more, I really hope it is still going ahead as I'd love to read a book on Bartali's life and career too.

inkyfingers

I've just started reading this book and like it so far. I'm a fan of history as well so find the coming together of history and cycling pretty fascinating.

jimmythecuckoo

Only a couple chapters through so far, but looking forward to getting stuck in.

ynyswen24

VEry good book, It's notable that Fotheringham has been able to get to talk to members of Coppis family including his son and daughter. If there's a book being written about Bartali then that'll be a good contrast, especially given the resistance work he carried out in the war (and said nothing about afterwards).

Corporate Ascents

I enjoyed the book very much, I enjoyed reading about his relationship with Bartali. Shocked by the needlessness of his death, but it also struck me that Bartali was the better rider...and only in death Coppi's legend has surpassed him.

mpd62

Great read, I really enjoy reading about this era in cycling . If you want another I can recomend my favorite The eagle of Canavese its tells the story of Franco Balmamion and the Giro in the early 60's, excellent.

shockedsoshocked

thomasmc wrote:

The book however felt a bit flat for me. Among a few issues I had with it, I was looking forward to a good discussion of the various “passing the bottle” photographs as for me they represented the rivalry as much as the various Tour & Giro wins but they was barely mentioned.

I'm sure the book covered the "passing the bottle" photos, and basically said it was an image of something quite banal which happened in the peloton on an extremely common basis, there was nothing special about the photo at all.