Stirling Moss [Paperback]

Robert Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2002

The first authorized biography--with over 350 color photos--of an extraordinarily gifted and competitive sportsman. Stirling Caulfield Moss drove professionally in nearly 500 races until his near-fatal crash in 1962. By the end of his career, he had become racing's most famous and adored celebrity. Moss's tally of wins was proportionally higher than any other driver's, ever, by a wide margin. From his first race in 1948 to his last, heady days of the early sixties and beyond, his life and career unfold in great detail: the family history and school days, his start on the track and entrance to the big league, his experience driving for Mercedes; the private races, and the crash and recovery. And, because the author enjoyed free range over every aspect of Moss's life, many of the amazing stories here have never been told before. Designed by David Costa, who created The Beatles Anthology.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

After twenty years as a City and Wall Street analyst and trader, Robert Edwards wrote his first book on a private passion: Aston Martin cars. Since then he has written many books in the field of motor racing including ARCHIE AND THE LISTERS, voted both book of the year and of the decade by the motoring press. He is a regular contributor to MOTOR SPORT and THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (October 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841882003
• ISBN-13: 978-1841882000
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #728,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A close-up look at one of the legends of the GP glory years., December 21, 2005

By 

Stephen Triesch (Shoreline/Seattle USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stirling Moss (Paperback)

I began to follow auto racing shortly after the 1962 accident at Goodwood that ended Moss's racing career, so I cannot say that I was ever a fan of Moss, only an admirer after-the-fact (as I also was of the German driver, Count Wolfgang von Trips). And I must admit I'm a sucker for just about any book about the pre-1970s era of Grand Prix racing.

This large, coffee-table-sized book tells Moss's story from beginning to end, not with an abundance of text, but with an abundance of photos, both black-and-white and color. Yes, there is text, but it is anecdotal rather than exhaustive or exhausting, and it does tell all we need to know about Moss's background, philosophy, personality, racing achievements, accidents, personal life, romances, and business activities.

There are many, many photos of Moss at all stages of his career, with particular attention paid to the Goodwood accident that nearly took his life, an accident that has always been shrouded in mystery and controversy. And - for the first time - some hitherto unpublished documents provide insight into what really happened on that gray day. And there is also another look at the infamous Le Mans crash that took the lives of Pierre Levegh and dozens of spectators.

My only complaint - and it is perhaps an inappropriate complaint regarding a book about Moss - is that there is too much Moss and too little of the other drivers who graced that bygone era. I would have liked to see more of Hawthorn and Fangio and Brooks and Schell and Bonnier and von Trips (althought we do see a photo insert of Trips' devastating crash at Monza). It was an era of great names and great faces and great personalities, and I would have liked the photographer's lens to range just a little bit wider.

But that is a mere quibble, and I can still recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Moss or a fan of the pre-comercialized world of GP racing. In a few more years, there won't be many who will remember what it was like.

5.0 out of 5 stars Stirling Moss Biography, September 14, 2009

By 

Margit Linnebjerg (Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stirling Moss: The Authorised Biography (Paperback)

A very interesting book if you are crazy about old clasic cars an race - a very carismatic personality:-)

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book about Stirling Moss, December 19, 2007

By 

Rantam (Madrid, SPAIN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stirling Moss: The Authorised Biography (Paperback)

I bought this book at London some weeks a go. It's good book for those of you interested in this racing legend and that racing age (which I love, by the way). It's quite detailed, because it covers his racing career and some aspects of his personal life either.

I'm not agree with the previous review in the point that, in my opinion, the book doesn't have so much pictures. It's the typical 'all text' book with some pages with pics that illustrate the full book. If I'm not wrong it doesn't have more than 10 of these pages with B&W pictures. The rest is plain text.

So a good and entertaining read. May be a bit too expensive for a paperback book, but always good for racing fans :)