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Description of  The Race to the Future: 8,000 Miles to Paris - The Adventure That Accelerated the Twentieth Century

1324094915 epub The rise of the automobile as told through its Rubicon momenta sensational, high-risk race across two continents on the verge of revolution. The racersan Italian prince and his chauffeur, a French racing driver, a con man, and several rival journalistsbattle over steep inclines, through narrow mountain passages, and across the arid Gobi Desert. Competitors endure torrential rain and choking dust. There are barely any roads, and petrol is almost impossible to find. A global audience of millions follows each twist and turn, devouring reports telegraphed from the course. More than its many adventures, the Peking-to-Paris Motor Challenge took place on the precipice of a new world. As the twentieth century dawned, imperial regimes in China and Russia were crumbling, paving the way for the rise of communist ones. The electric telegraph was rapidly transforming modern communication, and with it, the news media, commerce, and politics. Suspended between the old and the new, the Peking-to-Paris, as best-selling historian Kassia St. Clair writes, became a critical tipping point. Read more