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Read These 3 Books About the Tour de France

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By Concepción de León

• July 27, 2018

As the Tour de France nears its end, here are three books that trace its history and influence, as well as one amateur bicyclist’s adventurous attempt to complete the circuit on his own.

THE FIRST TOUR DE FRANCE Sixty Cyclists and Nineteen Days of Daring on the Road to Paris By Peter Cossins 384 pp. Nation Books. (2017)

As its title suggests, this book delves into the origins of what is now the biggest cycling event in the world. It was organized by editors of a flailing magazine who hoped to drive up interest in their publication, but few were eager to join the three-week long race; it was over tough terrain, more suited to horses than to bicycles, which weighed as much as 35 pounds at the time. The editors bribed a mishmash of unemployed laborers to participate, and Cossins uses their stories to paint a picture of France in the early 1900s to show how the race influenced the culture of cycling.

CYCLE OF LIES The Fall of Lance Armstrong By Juliet Macur 461 pp. Harper. (2014)

In this biography, Macur, a New York Times reporter, writes an illuminating portrait of the most notorious man in cycling. Though doping in sports preceded Armstrong, he was particularly calculated in his use: When he lost a race in 1995, he pressured his teammates into getting on a doping regimen and took extreme measures to ensure he wasn’t caught, like getting blood transfusions to force clean test results or pulling out of races to avoid being tested altogether. According to our reviewer, “what makes the story fascinating isn’t the dope,” but rather “Armstrong himself.” Based on interviews with Armstrong, estranged family members and more than 100 other witnesses, Macur tells the story of how Armstrong gained acclaim and what led to his eventual fall from grace.

FRENCH REVOLUTIONS Cycling the Tour de France By Tim Moore 277 pp. St. Martin’s Press. (2002)

This travelogue is one writer’s account of tracing the 2,256-mile Tour de France circuit of the 2000 race. He was out of shape and a novice biker, so he gave himself double the time, six weeks, to complete it. Our reviewer wrote that Moore “plays his foolhardy crusade purely for laughs, tempering the slapstick with bits of cycling lore and reflections on the event’s physical demands.” Moore gets lost within the first 10 minutes and soon starts cheating, pushing his bike up hills or skipping sections that are particularly challenging, but by the end, wrote our reviewer, “his triumphs — however modest — feel painfully earned.”

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Everything you need to know about cycling in France your independent guide

Must-Read Tour de France Books

There have been thousands of books written about the tour de france - after all, there's been plenty to write about. and some of them have been real crackers..

There should be something for everyone on this list of books about the Tour de France , its history and its riders.

Histories of the Tour de France

Following the tour.

Graham Watson's Tour de France Travel Guide: The Complete Insider's Guide to Following the World's Greatest Race ( UK , US ) is a few years out of date now but it's still a practical guide to following the Tour. Photographer Watson is a 30-year veteran of the Tour – time he’s spent not just nailing some great photography, but also perfecting the logistics of organising the trip as a spectator. 

Tour de France cyclists

Merckx fans will enjoy Merckx 69: Celebrating the World's Greatest Cyclist in his Finest Year and Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal by Daniel Friebe.

William Fotheringham's ever-popular Put Me Back On My Bike: In Search of Tom Simpson remains an excellent read, as does The Badger: Bernard Hinault and the Fall and Rise of French Cycling .

There is also Indurain , The End of the Road: The Festina Affair and the Tour that Almost Wrecked Cycling , and Reckless: The Life and Times of Luis Ocana by Alasdair Fotheringham.  Racing Through the Dark: The Fall and Rise of David Millar   is the story of how one of Britain's most promising cyclists got sucked into a world of doping, his arrest and subsequent suspension from the sport tarnishing a promising career. But it's also a story of renewal as Millar writes about life in the wilderness and his journey back to the peloton. See also Millar's The Racer: The Inside Story of Life on the Road .

And to a British rider of a previous generation. Graeme Fife's Brian Robinson: Pioneer charts the life of the first Briton to complete the Tour de France, and the first to claim a stage victory. Robinson also became the first British rider to win the  Critérium du Dauphiné . Fife's book is a profile of a seemingly modest rider whose forays across the Channel and into Europe paved the way for others to follow.

To the modern peloton and we have tomes by Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish's At Speed . My Time ( UK , US ) is Bradley Wiggins' biography. It tracks his climb back from 2010, through the disappointments of 2011 to the podium in 2012 and then to the Olympics. See also My Hour – as the name suggests, it's about his hour record. There is also the more recent Icons: My Inspiration, My Motivation, My Obsession , with a foreward by Merckx.

Doping and the Tour de France

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Best New Tour de France Books

As the Tour de France has grown in popularity with English-speaking fans, so has the number of books about the world’s most prestigious bike race. Here’s a selection of some of the most recent releases on the Tour’s history, champions, and folklore. —Whit Yost

The Climb by Chris Froome

Étape by Richard Moore

The shattered peloton by graham healey, merckx 69 by jan maes and tommy stouken, reckless by alasdair fotheringham, the story of the tour de france by bill and carol mcgann, slaying the badger by richard moore, rouleur centenary tour de france, legends of the tour by jan cleijne, the lanterne rouge by max leonard, .css-7piy6r:before{width:1.75rem;height:1.75rem;margin:0 0.625rem -0.125rem 0;content:'';display:inline-block;-webkit-background-size:1.25rem;background-size:1.25rem;background-color:#f8d811;color:#000;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-position:center;background-position:center;}.loaded .css-7piy6r:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/latest/bicycling/static/images/chevron-design-element.c42d609.svg);} tour de france.

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Tour Fever by J.P. Partland

Buy the eBook

And on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/tour-fever/id1258792282?mt=11

And on Lulu (great for Kindle users) http://www.lulu.com/shop/jp-partland/tour-fever/ebook/product-23257451.html

And on Nook. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1112366356?ean=2940158759802

Praise for Tour Fever from those inside the game

“ Tour Fever is like a text book about how the Tour de France operates. I was amazed at how it covered everything from the current racing scene to the history of the Tour de France.” —Frankie Andreu, Former professional cyclist, nine-time Tour de France finisher, team director, and cycling commentator

“Tour Fever is an insightful look at the world’s greatest bike race, the Tour de France. It educates the novice while providing cutting edge information and reference for the seasoned professional.  —Tom Danielson, Former professional cyclist, 8th overall in the 2011 Tour de France.

“ Tour Fever is the perfect title for a book so full of factual information about the world’s greatest bike race. But it is also a highly entertaining read, which will amuse the armchair fan for weeks on end—for the whole of July perhaps…” —Graham Watson, Tour de France photographer and author

Buy the Audiobook

Now available as an audiobook produced by Sportybooks.

You can find it on many outlets, Including:

3 Leaf Group              Amazon/Audible

Anyplay Apple                           Audiobooks NZ Audiobooks.com

Baker & Taylor, Inc.

Bibliotheca, LLC         BookMate 

EBSCO Information Services

eStories           Follett Library Resources

hibooks          Hoopla

Hummingbird Media

Odilo      Overdrive

Scribd, Inc.            StoryTel

Wheelers Book Club Limited

If you want the eBook, go here .

Good Words on Tour Fever

“ Tour Fever is like a text book about how the Tour de France operates. I was amazed at how it covered everything from the current racing scene to the history of the Tour de France.” —Frankie Andreu, Former professional cyclist, nine-time Tour de France finisher, team director, and cycling commentator “Tour Fever is an insightful look at the world’s greatest bike race, the Tour de France. It educates the novice while providing cutting edge information and reference for the seasoned professional.  —Tom Danielson, Former professional cyclist, 8th overall in the 2011 Tour de France. “ Tour Fever is the perfect title for a book so full of factual information about the world’s greatest bike race. But it is also a highly entertaining read, which will amuse the armchair fan for weeks on end—for the whole of July perhaps…” —Graham Watson, Tour de France photographer and author    

“A superb companion to the world’s greatest race, Tour Fever breaks down the race’s history, terminology, and traditions in a smart yet easy-to-use guide that offers something to both the brand-new enthusiast and the experienced racer. If you’re planning to tune into the Tour’s final days—and c’mon, dude, you should!—it’s the perfect companion on the couch. I’m sharing mine with the guys in the office—not so they’ll stop mocking me, but to show them that sports in July is more exciting than Astros at Padres.”–GQ.com “J.P. does a great job of capturing the majesty, drama and exuberance of Tour fever. It’s easy to recommend the book for experienced and novice cyclists alike, but the book’s greatest strength may be its ability to explain the race to a non-cyclist. It is the only book I would recommend to a cyclist’s partner. And for anyone wanting to share their loved one’s excitement, I can’t recommend the book highly enough.” —Patrick Brady, Publisher, RedKitePrayer.com

It's still 84 days until the Tour de France, so here are 10 of the best Grand Tour books

At the very least the pages will mop up the tears caused by the current lack of racing

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It’s probably fair to assume that many of us have more reading time on our hands than we’re used to, so – as well as reading Cycling Weekly , of course – why not make the most of it with this literary Grand Tour de force.

Giro d'Italia: The story of the world's most beautiful bike race

Colin O'Brien (Pursuit) £9.99

Style, landscape, passion - there are probably a dozen ways in which the Giro d'Italia could justify its bella corsa  moniker. Colin O'Brien explores the characters and the stories that have provided the texture and shading for the Giro for more than 100 editions.

Packed with feuds and betrayals, heroism and suffering, O'Brien brings alive a race that is almost more akin to a Shakespearean tragedy than a sporting event.

Grand Tour Cookbook

Hannah Grant (Musette) £40

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Former Tinkoff-Saxo team chef Grant offers a different take on the Grand Tour with this beautiful and colourful book of recipes based on three-week nutrition. Far from being 21 different versions of flaccid pasta and the odd buttock-tenderised steak, this book is packed with attractive and adventurous fare, as well as insights and interviews with riders and team staff. The layout itself also gives the nod to the Grand Tour, presented as it is in 20 stages and with a brace of rest days.

Tim Moore (Yellow Jersey Press) £8.99

If there's one cycling author who doesn't do things by havles it's Tim Moore, and the results are invariably side-splitting. Having already followed the 2000 Tour de France route in the very funny and very well received French Revolutions , Gironimo  harks back to the 1914 Giro d'Italia 100 years on. Moore calls it the "most appalling bike race of all-time," but undeterred, and using a wooden-rimmed 1914 road bike and a period outfit that includes welder's goggles, he sets about recreating the race as accurately as possible.

We Rode All Day

Gareth Cartman (Gareth Cartman) £6.99

In 1919 the competitors in the Tour de France faced a very different physical landscape to that of the previous edition in 1914. Northern France had been ravaged b the Great War, but the race didn't shy away from it, spending the first few days between Paris and Cherbourg, during which time the riders faced the monster stages of 400km and more that were typical of the race at that time.

The Tour has probably never been more of a grand 'boucle' (loop), describing as it did almost perfectly the circumference of the country.

We Rode All Day is the story of that Tour, told in the words of riders like Firmin Lambot, Eugène Christophe and Henri Pélissier.

Cartman has drawn upon the available knowledge of the riders involved to create what is essentially a historical 'faction' - a reimagining of the drama of a great race, drawing on quotes and factual history.

"Piecing together the action was the easy bit," says Cartman. "The chronology was easily available. The riders' voices, however, are the result of reading interviews and biographies - and I hope that I have stayed true to them."

This is a rare and innovative glimpse into the Tour de France of 100 years ago, and has been elevated by some fans to the level of Tim Krabbé's The Rider , as compulsory reading for cyclists.

The Yellow Jersey

Pete Cossins (Yellow Jersey Press) £25

Written to mark the centenary of the yellow jersey, this celebration of the most sought-after prize in cycling includes interviews with some of its most famous wearers: Chris Froome is there, Thomas Voeckler and even Antonin Rolland, who at 95 is the oldest living rider to have worn the maillot jaune. This sumptuously illustrated book certainly does justice to those featured within its pages.

Viva La Vuelta

Lucy Fallon (Mousehold) £18.95

In the face of a barrage of Tour de France books, a rare tome on the Vuelta a España. It boasts a foreword, too, by Sean Kelly, who became the race's first Anglophone winner in 1988.

From its first edition in 1935 to the present day, this is the story of a race that has, in turn, been set against the backdrop of political turmoil, economic uncertainty and near-famine conditions, but manages to feature excitement and innovation.

Brian Robinson: Pioneer

Graeme Fife (Mousehold) £12.95

This is a good hopping-on point for British fans. Fife's book is a celebration of the Yorkshireman's breakthrough into Continental racing, his first Tour de France participation in 1955, and ultimately his stage wins, taken in 1958 and '59. Robinson wasn't the first Briton to ride the Tour de France, but he was the first to finish, and the first to win a stage too. Told in Fife's elegant words, this is the story of a true pioneer.

Etape: The untold stories of the Tour de France's defining stages

Richard Moore (Harper Sport) £9.99

Some Tour stages live longer in the memory than others, but all have their own stories. Moore retells these through the eyes of the protagonists themselves, shedding new light on some of the Tour's most famous days and telling new tales in the process, as well as offering insight into some of the sport's biggest characters. The book spans six decades and features riders including Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Lance Armstrong, Chris Boardman and Mark Cavendish.

Lanterne Rouge

Max Leonard (Pegasus Books) £11.99

Some of the most interesting stories to come out of the Tour de France come from what, on the face of it, are the least impressive performances.

Max Leonard explores the race upside-down, telling stories of stage winners and former yellow jerseys in last place - or how about the lone escapee who stopped for a bottle of wine and then got lost? These are stories taht bring the race alive, and perhaps demonstrate that last place doesn't always equal biggest loser.

Cartes du Tour

Paul Fournel (Rapha) £40

If there's one thing that goes hand in hand with cycling, along with coffee and pride in odd tan lines, it's a love of maps. Tracing the lines of past and future adventures, even if those adventures belong to someone else, can all be part of the fun. To this end Rapha has created this typically sumptuous 'cartographical' history of the Tour de France.

From the first edition in 1903 to the present day, the book traces the history of the Tour via the medium of route maps. And not just the official ones - the Tour used to be more flexible when it came to external publications creating their own versions of its official offering, and the book is enriched by many of these. Thanks to its magazine and newspaper extracts, Cartes du Tour also serves as something of a social and political history - both of which tend to be reflected in cycling more generally.

Curated by celebrated French author Paul Fournel, the book includes his original text plus a translation into English and a foreword by current Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme.

This is obviously no throwaway paperback, and like a lot of things Rapha, it doesn't come at a throwaway price either, with its listing for £40. If you're really feeling extravagant there's also the option of spending £150 on the special edition, which is a run limited to 200 copies, featuring a special protective sleeve and signed by Fournel.

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After cutting his teeth on local and national newspapers, James began at Cycling Weekly as a sub-editor in 2000 when the current office was literally all fields. 

Eventually becoming chief sub-editor, in 2016 he switched to the job of full-time writer, and covers news, racing and features.

A lifelong cyclist and cycling fan, James's racing days (and most of his fitness) are now behind him. But he still rides regularly, both on the road and on the gravelly stuff.

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Le Fric: Family, Power and Money: The Business of the Tour de France Hardcover – 9 Jun. 2022

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The fascinating and unknown story of the Tour de France's ever-changing relationship with money and power - and the enigmatic family behind it all. It started with a cash drop by an English spy in occupied Paris in 1944. Reserved for Resistance groups during the war, the money reached Émilien Amaury, an advertising executive, who was tasked to help France return to a free press once liberated. He soon launched a newspaper empire that - unbeknown to him - would own the rights to run what would become one of the greatest sporting events in history. Le Tour, once a struggling commercial phenomenon, began to rise in popularity across much of western Europe in the glum years after the Second World War, lifting the mood of the hungry and despondent French. But with the increased interest in the event, exacerbated by the creation of television and the internet, came several cultural threats to national heritage. Multiple attempts to wrest power and profits from the latest generation of the Amaury family - who still own the race and take tens of millions of euros home in dividends - have followed, but not without a fight. Fast-paced and fastidiously researched, Le Fric illustrates how moments off the bike at the Tour de France are every bit as gripping as the battle for the yellow jersey.

• Print length 336 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Constable
• Publication date 9 Jun. 2022
• Dimensions 16.21 x 1.78 x 23.83 cm
• ISBN-10 1408716690
• ISBN-13 978-1408716694
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Book description, from the inside flap, from the back cover, about the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Constable (9 Jun. 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1408716690
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1408716694
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.21 x 1.78 x 23.83 cm
• 150 in The Tour de France
• 330 in Cycling History & Biography
• 454 in French Historical Biographies

About the author

Alex Duff covered the business of sport for 15 years for Bloomberg News. He has written three non-fiction books: 'Smart Money - the Fall and Rise of Brentford FC', 'Le Fric - the Business of the Tour de France' and 'Football's Secret Trade' about the shadowy side of the player transfer market. His other jobs have included working for Associated Press in Rio de Janeiro, a tabloid newspaper in London and as a waiter in Milan.

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Our favorite books to read during the Tour de France

The Tour de France has been around for over a century, with the first edition taking place in July 1903. The race has been run nearly every year since, pausing only for the two world wars.

The Tour was created by an enterprising French journalist who wanted to sell more newspapers. Henri Desgrange surely had no idea his little bicycle race would evolve into the world's largest annual sporting event, today watched by millions along the roadside and hundreds of millions more on TV.

With all the history come many excellent books to sink into. Here are our favorites — some new, some old, all worth reading.

"The First Tour de France" by Peter Cossins

An exquisite history of the first Tour de France.

"Having portrayed the race's itinerary 'from Paris to the blue waters of the Mediterranean, from Marseille to Bordeaux via pink-tinted and dreaming towns sleeping in the sun ... ' Desgrange revealed his two greatest hopes for the race: no less than the revitalization of French manhood and vitality, and the introduction of high-level sport to French provinces hitherto almost totally ignored by it."

Read more at Nation Books and buy it on Amazon .

"Road to Valor" by Aili and Andres McConnon

Elie Wiesel praised this detailed history for offering "a moving example of moral courage."

"At the age of 24, he stuns the world by winning the Tour de France and becomes an international sports icon. But Mussolini’s Fascists try to hijack his victory for propaganda purposes, derailing Bartali’s career, and as the Nazis occupy Italy, Bartali undertakes secret and dangerous activities to help those being targeted.

"He shelters a family of Jews in an apartment he financed with his cycling winnings and is able to smuggle counterfeit identity documents hidden in his bicycle past Fascist and Nazi checkpoints because the soldiers recognize him as a national hero in training."

Read more at roadtovalorbook and buy it Amazon .

"A Dog in a Hat" by Joe Parkin

American Joe Parkin pursued a dream to race in Europe. This is his "brutally frank memoir."

"I saw my first pro kermis race during my first week in Belgium, and it felt like trying to escape a hall of mirrors but not being able to read the exit signs. Everything was larger than life and more grotesque than I had imagined. But kermis racing was not all about the drugs. If the grand tours are like classical music, kermis racing is punk rock, Belgian-style."

Read more at VeloPress and buy it on Amazon .

"Reckless: The Life and Times of Luis Ocaña" by Alasdair Fotheringham

An intriguing book about a tragic figure. Eddy Merckx is the greatest cyclist of all time, and Merckx called Luis Ocaña his "most dangerous rival."

"He came across as a hero out of a Scott Fitzgerald novel, with that self-destructive, slightly crazy edge to him."

Read more at Bloomsbury and buy it on Amazon .

"Ventoux" by Jeremy Whittle

"Epic" is a word that diehard cyclists love to hate, but if one climb truly deserves the adjective, it's Mont Ventoux. This book is a deep dive into the epicest! of all the Tour climbs.

"They're all scared. Everybody's afraid. It gets so quiet you can hear a fly buzzing through the peloton." —Eddy Merckx

Read more at Simon & Shuster and buy it on Amazon .

"Rough Ride" by Paul Kimmage

A game-changing exposé, this is one Irish cyclist turned journalist's story about his experiences with widespread doping in pro cycling and the Tour de France.

"The law of silence: it exists not only in the Mafia but also in the peloton. Those who break the law, who talk to the press about the dope problems in the sport are despised. They are branded as having 'craché dans la soupe', they have 'spat in the soup'.

"In writing this book I have broken the law of silence. I have spat in the soup and a lot of people with resent me for it."

Read more at Penguin and buy it on Amazon .

"The Shattered Peloton" by Graham Healy

World War I would see more than 16 million troops and civilians die.

Many of the riders in the 1914 Tour did not return from the war, and three previous winners of the race were among those killed in action.

"Both the archduke and Sophie were dead within half an hour. Another member of the traveling party, Count Harrach, said that the archduke's last words were, "Sophie, Sophie! Don't die! Live for our children!"

"As the couple lay dying, the Tour de France continued toward Le Havre."

Read more at Breakaway Books and buy it on Amazon .

"The Secret Race" by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle

If you read only one book about Lance Armstrong and his corrupting power, read this unputdownable insider account of the sport's darkest figure in his brightest hour.

"One day I'm a normal person with a normal life," he said. "The next I'm standing on a street corner in Madrid with a secret phone and a hole in my arm and I'm bleeding all over, hoping I don't get arrested. It was completely crazy. But it seemed like the only way at the time."

Read more at Random House and buy it on Amazon .

"Why We Ride" by Patrick Brady

A collection of inspiring philosophical ruminations about the pedaling life.

"The bicycle is a thing of beauty, a potent antidote to the world's ills, an eternal E-ticket ride."

Read more at Red Kite Prayer and buy it on Amazon .

"The Art of the Jersey" by Andy Storey

Channel your inner cycling-design geek with this wonderful journey through 200 or so of the most iconic racing jerseys ever to grace the peloton.

Insightful commentary complements each of the colorful pictures.

Read more at Octopus Books and buy it on Amazon .

"Velopedia" by Robert Dineen

Everything you ever wanted to know about the world of road cycling in 101 fun and contemporary infographics.

Warning: This beautifully illustrated, colorful guide is tough to put down.

Read more at Quarto and buy it on  Amazon .

"The Ultimate Bicycle Owner's Manual" by Eben Weiss

Bike Snob NYC is probably the best read bike blogger on earth. In this humorous guide to bikes and bicycling, he helps readers get the most out of cycling so they can get out and ride.

Read more at Black Dog and Leventhal  and buy it on Amazon .

"Fuelling the Cycling Revolution" by Nigel Mitchell

Looking for a collection of amazing recipes that will fuel your amazing cycling adventures? Get a copy of this authoritative guide from one of the sport's top nutritionists.

The must-read practical guide to what to eat — on and off the bike — for any cyclist looking for a training and performance advantage.

Read more at Bloomsbury Publishing and buy it on Amazon .

"The Cycling Cartoonist" by Dave Walker

Should you store your bike in the living room? What is a good place to hide your new wheels from your partner? How do you become a MAMIL ?

This smart, humorous take on all things cycling is a sheer delight.

"Ask a Pro" by Phil Gaimon

Ever asked yourself, How should I explain my shaved legs to girls? This is the book for you.

A hilarious and often LOL book-length Q&A with a former pro who keeps it real.

"The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold" by Tim Moore

Ever dream of riding a tiny-wheeled, two-geared East German shopping bike 6,000 miles across the old Iron Curtain? Me neither. But Tim Moore did, and he did it.

A delight of a book that is hilariously written. A genuine page-turner.

Read more at Pegasus Books  and buy it on Amazon .

"The Rider" by Tim Krabbé

The best book ever written about bike racing, period.

"Every once in a while someone along the road lets us know how far behind we are. A man shouts: 'Faster!' He probably thinks bicycle racing is about going fast."

Read more at Bloomsbury Publishing  and buy it on Amazon .

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10 best cycling books

To celebrate bike week and the start of the tour de france, we find inspirational works for fans of life on two wheels, article bookmarked.

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From the great cycling memoirs and accounts of incredible sporting achievement to lesser-known stories and in-depth analysis of the engineering of the sport, our round-up includes books for armchair enthusiasts and bike nuts alike.

1. Bernard Hinault and the Fall and Rise of French Cycling by William Fotheringham: £14.99, randomhouse.co.uk

The latest work by the grand homme of cycling writing explores the life and glories of “The Badger”, France’s greatest and - to date - last Tour de France champion. Fotheringham recalls Hinault’s triumph in the race France invented, and the last 30 years without a French winner.

2. The Hour: Sporting Immortality The Hard Way by Michael Hutchinson: £8.99, randomhouse.co.uk

Before Bradley Wiggins adds a chapter to his autobiography, read about the glory and torture of cycling’s Hour record in this humourous, compelling account of the writer’s own attempt to break it. (Then buy Faster, Hutchinson’s more recent book about speed).

3. The Biography of the Modern Bike by Chris Boardman: £19.99, orionbooks.co.uk

Few people understand the mechanics and technology of the modern bike than Chris Boardman, the self-confessed bike geek whose Tour de France and Hour record heroics revived British cycling in the 90s. His book, out in July, explores a beautiful evolution.

4. The Race Against the Stasi: The Incredible Story of Dieter Wiedemann, the Iron Curtain and the Greatest Cycling Race on Earth by Herbie Sykes: £18.99, quartouk.com

Caught on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, Wiedemann became a pin-up of Soviet sporting power. But when he fell in love with a woman to the West of the Berlin wall, he plotted an audacious escape. Sykes tells his story.

5. Gironimo! Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy by Tim Moore: £14.99, randomhouse.co.uk

The writer builds a bike of the era with wooden wheels and wine corks for brakes to set off on a foolhardy - and, for the reader, funny - mission to understand the full horror of the notorious 1914 edition of what remains one of cycling’s toughest races.

6. The Rider by Tim Krabbe: £8.09, bloomsbury.com

In an idiosyncratic classic of sports literature first published in Dutch in 1978, the rider recounts in dark, compelling prose the pain and glory involved in a fictional race, covering 150km in 150 gripping pages.

7. Lanterne Rouge: The Last Man in the Tour de France by Max Leonard: £16.99, randomhouse.co.uk

Way behind the front of the Tour de France, a traditional and at times absurd contest goes on to be the last man to finish, named after the red light (lanterne rouge) that hangs on the back of trains. Leonard tells the untold story of losing at its best.

8. The Climb: The Autobiography by Chris Froome: £9, penguin.co.uk

Out in paperback in time for his attempt to win his second Tour de France, Chris Froome recalls an unlikely start as a gangly boy growing up in Kenya, and how he emerged from the shadow of Bradley Wiggins to win the 100th edition of the world’s greatest race.

9. The Escape Artist: Life from the Saddle by Matt Seaton: £8.99, 4thestate.co.uk

A touching and deeply thoughtful account of how an obsession with bike racing collided with the realities of life and life-threatening illness in a beautiful book that has become a modern classic.

10. The Flying Scotsman by Graeme Obree: £8.99, birlinn.co.uk

Bradley Wiggins spoke touchingly as he prepared for his Hour record about how Britain had failed to recognise the gifts of Graeme Obree the athlete, the Scottish rider who came from nowhere to battle with Chris Boardman during the Hour rush of the 1990s. But Obree the human we already knew thanks to his searingly honest account of a troubled but brilliant life.

To get geared up for the Tour de France (starting 4 July), try Fotheringham’s latest work about French attempts to win those yellow jerseys. Or pick up Chris Froome’s autobiography to learn more about our man with his eyes on the prize. Then read the Lanterne Rouge about those battling it out at back of the peloton. If that all sounds a bit serious, try Tim Moore’s very funny Gironimo! for some light relief.

Get Excited for the Tour de France with These Reads

Updated 6/30/2023

Watching the Tour de France on television has been a favorite rite of early summer for my family. If you've never watched a professional road cycling race—I don't blame you. The rules can seem arcane (sock height regulations!); etiquette transgressions can be hard to follow (don't attack during a "nature break"!); and the jargon, much of it from the French, takes time to learn (domestiques, musettes, soigneurs, sticky bottles, super tucks...), but it's a fascinating sport with a storied history. 

Whether you caught Tour de France fever after watching Netflix's recent  Tour de France: Unchained series or you're a seasoned fan, here are some reading selections about the sport of cycling, the history of the Tour (the scandals!), some of the major players, as well as some fiction reads if that's more your speed.

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by Peter Cossins From its inception, the 1903 Tour de France was a colorful affair. Cyclists of the time weren't enthusiastic about participating in this "heroic" race on roads more suited to hooves than wheels, with bikes weighing up to thirty-five pounds, on a single fixed gear, for three full weeks. Assembling enough riders for the race meant paying unemployed amateurs from the suburbs of Paris, including a butcher, a chimney sweep, and a circus acrobat. Starting in the Parisian suburb of Montgeron, the route took the intrepid cyclists through Lyon, over the hills to Marseille, then on to Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Nantes, ending with great fanfare at the Parc des Princes in Paris. There was no indication that this ramshackle cycling pack would draw crowds to throng France's rutted roads and cheer the first Tour heroes. But they did; and all thanks to a marketing ruse, cycling would never be the same again.

The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-Ups, and Winning at All Costs 

by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle

Hamilton pulls back the curtain on the Tour de France and takes us into the secret world of professional cycling like never before: the doping, the lying, and his years as Lance Armstrong's teammate on U.S. Postal.

The End of the Road: The Festina Affair and the Tour That Almost Wrecked Cycling

by Alasdair Fotheringham The Tour de France is always one of the most spectacular and dramatic events in sports. But the 1998 Tour provided drama like no other. As the opening stages in Ireland unfolded, the Festina team's soigneur, Willy Voet, was arrested at the French-Belgian border with a carload of drugs. Raid upon police raid followed, with arrest after arrest hammering the Tour. In protest, there were riders' strikes and go-slows, with several squads withdrawing en masse and one expelled. By the time the Tour reached Paris, just 96 of the 189 starters remained, and of those 189 starters, more than a quarter were later reported to have doped. The 1998 ” “Tour de Farce's” status as one of the most scandal-struck sporting events in history was confirmed.

Higher Calling: Cycling's Obsession With Mountains

by Max Leonard

A  Higher Calling  explores why mountains have such a magnetic appeal to cyclists the world over. But Max Leonard, himself an accomplished amateur cyclist, does not forget the pain, the glory, the sweat, and the tears that go into these grueling climbs. After all, cycling up a mountain is hard. So hard that, to many, it can seem absurd. But for others, climbing a mountain gracefully (and beating your competitors up the slope) represents the pinnacle of cycling achievement. It is where legends are forged.

Slaying the Badger: Greg Lemond, Bernard Hinault, and the Greatest Tour De France

by Richard Moore

Slaying the Badger is an incomparably detailed and highly revealing tale of cycling's most extraordinary rivalry which came to a stunning climax in the 1986 Tour de France as two teammates—five-time winner Bernard Hinault and young American Greg LeMond—vied for the yellow jersey. The stakes were high. Winning for Hinault meant capping his long cycling career by becoming the first man to win the Tour six times. For LeMond, a win means bringing America its first Tour de France victory.

Biography & Memoir

The Comeback: Greg Lemond, the True King of American Cycling, and a Legendary Tour De France

by Daniel de Visé

The Comeback  chronicles the life of one of America’s greatest athletes, from his roots in Nevada and California to the heights of global fame, to a falling out with his own family and a calamitous confrontation with Lance Armstrong over allegations the latter was doping—a campaign LeMond would wage on principle for more than a decade before Armstrong was finally stripped of his own Tour titles. 

One-Way Ticket: Nine Lives on Two Wheels

by Jonathan Vaughters

A memoir from the American cyclist discusses his legendary career, his subsequent anti-doping campaign that led him to become a witness against Lance Armstrong, and his founding of the first pro cycling team dedicated to clean riding. 

Racing Through the Dark: Crash. Burn. Coming Clean. Coming Back.

by David Millar

Traces the author's journey as a young Scottish expat in Hong Kong to a professional cyclist who has competed in the Olympics, Vuelta a Espana, and the Tour de France, describing his use of banned performance-enhancing drugs before his arrest, cycling ban, and triumphant return as a determined anti-drug activist.

Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While)

by Phil Gaimon

Like countless other kids, Phil Gaimon grew up dreaming of being a professional athlete. But unlike countless other kids, he actually pulled it off. After years of amateur races, hard training, living out of a suitcase, and never taking “no” for an answer, he finally achieved his goal and signed a contract to race professionally on one of the best teams in the world. Now, Gaimon pulls back the curtain on the WorldTour, cycling’s highest level. He takes readers along for his seasons in Europe, covering everything from rabid, water-bottle-stealing Belgian fans, to contract renewals, to riding in poisonous smog, to making friends in a sport plagued by doping.  Draft Animals  reveals a story as much about bike racing as it is about the never-ending ladder of achieving goals, failure, and finding happiness if you land somewhere in-between.

Road to Valor: A True Story of World War II Italy, the Nazis, and the Cyclist Who Inspired a Nation

by Aili McConnon

Documents the against-the-odds story of cyclist Gino Bartal from his impoverished youth in rural Tuscany and his surprise victory at the Tour de France to his secret role in the Italian resistance and his postwar second Tour de France win. 

Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong 

by Juliet Macur

The definitive account of Lance Armstrong's spectacular rise and fall. Threading together the vivid and disparate voices of those with intimate knowledge of the private and public Armstrong, Macur weaves a comprehensive and unforgettably rich tapestry of one man's astonishing rise to global fame and fortune and his devastating fall from grace.

by Peter Sagan

With four Tour de France points jersey victories, three road race world championships, the 2018 Paris-Roubaix, and multiple spring classics among Sagan’s palmares, the world of cycling agrees that this intense yet fun-loving rider is among the most dominant and fun-to-watch riders of his generation. Inside  My World , Sagan discusses his relationship with fellow riders, his heroes, and how he copes with the expectation of success. He also shares technical details about his preparation, dissects the art of the sprint, and analyzes the tactics that play out during a fiercely competitive stage or race.

The Black Jersey 

by Jorge Zepeda Patterson

When racers in training for the upcoming Tour de France begin suffering violent accidents, the best friend of a favored contender helps the French police only to discover that the killer appears to be favoring his friend's team.

The Invisible Mile 

by David Coventry

The 1928 Ravat-Wonder team from New Zealand and Australia were the first English-speaking team to ride the Tour de France. From June through July they faced one of the toughest in the race's history: 5,476 kilometres of unsealed roads on heavy, fixed-wheel bikes. They rode in darkness through mountains with no light and brakes like glass. They weren't expected to finish.  The Invisible Mile  is a powerful re-imagining of the tour from inside the peloton, where the test of endurance, for one young New Zealander, becomes a psychological journey into the chaos of the War a decade earlier. 

We Begin Our Ascent 

by Joe Mungo Reed

Sol and Liz are a couple on the cusp. He's a professional cyclist in the Tour de France, a workhorse but not yet a star. She's a geneticist on the brink of a major discovery, either that or a loss of funding. They've just welcomed their first child into the world, and their bright future lies just before them; if only they can reach out and grab it. But as Liz's research slows, as Sol starts doping, their dreams grow murkier and the risks graver. Over the whirlwind course of the Tour, they enter the orbit of an extraordinary cast of conmen and aspirants, who draw the young family ineluctably into the depths of an illegal drug smuggling operation. As Liz and Sol flounder to discern right from wrong, up from down, they are forced to decide: What is it we're striving for? And what is it worth?

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.

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News, Notes, Talk

8 bike books to read before the Tour de France ends.

If you have any cycling fans in your life, you know that many of us have been glued to the Tour de France for the last three weeks. After today’s grueling mountain section, there are only a few days of racing remaining, with cycling’s big competition about to wrap up on Sunday.

If you’re already feeling wheel withdrawal, you’re not alone.

Liking books and bikes is nothing new, since the invention of the bike literature and cycling have gone hand in hand— check out Arthur Conan Doyle and his wife on this ancient tandem. This excellent essay in The Guardian surveys a few famous authors who loved to ride , including Simone de Beauvoir who lost a tooth in a bike crash, H.G. Wells who location-scouted for The War of the Worlds on bike (“‘I wheeled about the district marking down suitable places and people for destruction by my Martians’”) and Thomas Hardy, who became so enamored of his bike that he declared, “‘I have almost forgotten that there is such a pursuit as literature in the arduous study of – bicycling!’”

And here on Lit Hub, writer Rian Sesseen wrote about discovering biking during lockdown, and how the literature of the bicycle made the perfect accompaniment to her own journey of learning to ride. In her essay, she recommends Simone de Beauvoir’s The Blood of Others, Flann O’Brien’s The Third Policeman , the poet-biker Nikki Giovanni’s collection Bicycles , and Jon Day’s Cyclogeography: Journeys of a London Bicycle Courier , all great biking books.

But if you’re looking for more books with bikes to slate your need for speed, here are some recommendations.

Tim Krabbé, tr. Sam Garrett, The Rider

Both surreal and thrillingly realistic, this trippy novel puts the reader in the head of a racer biking 150 kilometers in just 150 pages. Short and clipped in style, this semi-autobiographical monologue from an amateur competing in the 1977 Tour de Mont Aigoual in the south of France is an ode to the kind of obsession that grips so many cyclists.

Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

A satire of both the mythologized age of chivalry and the late-19th century, Mark Twain’s fish-out-of-water novel follows a Hartford man who is blasted back to medieval times. The novel has the pacing and set-pieces of a sitcom, with our protagonist using his more advanced knowledge and technology to pass as a magician or wriggle out of binds.

The book is fun and episodic, and features one particularly vivid image of medieval knights on bike:

…I shot one more glance abroad—by George! here they came, a-tilting!—five hundred mailed and belted knights on bicycles!

The grandest sight that ever was seen. Lord, how the plumes streamed, how the sun flamed and flashed from the endless procession of webby wheels!

David Byrne, Bicycle Diaries

A dedicated urban cyclist, Talking Head David Byrne wrote a beautiful love letter to making your way through cities on two wheels. A diaristic collection, Byrne rides through New York City, Berlin, Buenos Aires, and more, meeting fellow cyclists and musing on many topics, especially his love of bikes and cities that embrace them.

Tom Isitt, Riding in the Zone Rouge

A shocking story of a mostly forgotten bike race, this history tells the story of the Circuit des Champs de Bataille, or Tour of the Battlefields, held in 1919 less than six months after the end of WWI.

Islitt, whose own ride along the Bataille route frames the history, documents just how horrible the 1919 race was. The weather was nearly unbearable, with snow and intense wind, and the horrors of the war were still viscerally present. A Michelin guide from 1919 described the route as still choked with the war’s devastation: “Thousands of shells, shell casings, rifles and machine guns lie scattered about. Corpses are occasionally seen.” Only 21 racers even finished the race, and a staggering half of them dropped out in one day, after the 323-kilometer third stage took the winner 18 hours and 28 minutes to finish.

Riding in the Zone Rouge is a fascinating history, and a remarkable story of endurance and farce.

Samuel Beckett, Molloy

The first novel of Beckett’s famous trilogy features two main characters, including a strange near-vagrant named Molloy who loves riding his bike and honking its red horn. He maybe loves his bike too much — early in the book, a police officer sees Molloy resting on his bike in a pose the cop finds lewd. The situation escalates and Molloy is soon arrested.

Maybe not the hero cyclists want to claim, but Molloy certainly loves his bike, even addressing it directly at times:

Dear bicycle, I shall not call you bike, you were green, like so many of your generation, I don’t know why.

H.G. Wells, The Wheels of Chance

As mentioned, Wells was a biker himself and wrote this short book that is, in part, a celebration of the freedom many of us feel on two wheels. The book follows a man on a biking vacation who encounters a shocking image:  a young woman in bloomers, also riding a bike—this modern, liberated woman SHOCKS the young man. The chance meeting puts the main character in the middle of a relationship gone sour. It’s not Wells’ best, but it makes clear just how much Wells loved to bike—his descriptions of riding through England are beautiful.

Wells’ more famous The War Of The Worlds also includes a bicycle: his main character initially misses the reports of an alien invasion because he’s been too occupied with learning how to ride a bike. Would that it were still so easy to bike away from the news.

P. G. Wodehouse, Right Ho, Jeeves

Wodehouse’s second Wooster and Jeeves novel is a pile-up of plots and subplots all hinging characteristically on comic conflicts and misunderstandings. Right Ho, Jeeves features a memorable biking scene, where Jeeves contrives to have his master, Bertie Wooster, ride out and back on an “infernal sewing-machine” over nine miles of country road. The frivolous, 18-mile errand gives two other, feuding characters time to make up.

It’s a funny and frustrating moment, but like so much of Wodehouse, you really have to read it for the joke to land.

William Gibson, Virtual Light

In the first book in Gibson’s Bridge trilogy, one of the main characters in this cycle is Chevette Washington, a bike messenger in a futuristic, 2006 San Francisco. This isn’t a cycling novel by any stretch of the imagination, but Gibson’s description of Chevette’s cyberpunk, voice-alarmed bike is memorable:

“Back off,” it says when she’s five feet away. Not loud, like a car, but it sounds like it means it.

Under its coat of spray-on imitation rust and an artful bandaging of silver duct-tape, the geometry of the paper-cored, carbon-wrapped frame makes Chevette’s thighs tremble. She slips her left hand through the recognition-loop behind the seat. There’s a little double zik as the particle-brakes let go, then she’s up and on it.

It’s never felt better, as she pumps up the oil-stained ramp and out of there.

Please reach out if you know where I can get one of these yelling anti-theft devices.

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This is the best Tour de France finish ever

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Lennard Kämna joins Lidl-Trek on three year contract

German climbing star seeks to return to his best with the support of Lidl-Trek

Lidl-Trek is excited to announce the signing of German cyclist Lennard Kämna, who will officially join the team on January 1st. Widely regarded as one of the best German cyclists in the peloton, Kämna has made a name for himself by securing stage wins in each of the three Grand Tours – Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and Vuelta a España. His ability to deliver exceptional performances on cycling’s biggest stages highlights his remarkable talent and tactical astuteness, qualities that Lidl-Trek is thrilled to bring into its ranks. This signing also marks a reunion for Kämna with former teammates Mads Pedersen and Alex Kirsch, with whom he raced during the 2016 season.

Earlier this year, Kämna faced a significant setback after a serious crash, and while he is still on the road to regaining his best form, his unwavering commitment to recovery underscores his strength of character. Lidl-Trek is confident that Kämna will not only return to his previous heights but will also reach new levels of success with the team.

(Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images,)

Speaking of his move to Lidl-Trek, Lennard Kämna said: “With joining Lidl-Trek, I am now taking the next chapter in my career. The past few years have been quite important for me and now I’m excited about what’s to come. I definitely want to continue my individual development in the coming years and I certainly want to win races. Of course, I am also realistic about my accident and the injuries I got at the beginning of the year. I’m looking forward to being part of a great team, which certainly has further potential that I want to contribute to with my performance. And I’m looking forward to reuniting with team mates I’ve known for a long time from my first year as a pro – Mads Pedersen and Alex Kirsch. All in all, top pre-requisites for lots of fun on and off the bike and hopefully great achievements together.”

Lidl-Trek General Manager, Luca Guercilena , added: “Lennard is a great talent we’ve been closely watching for some time. When the opportunity arose to bring him on board, it was a clear and natural fit for our Team. His impressive track record in short stage races, combined with his proven ability to excel over the demanding Grand Tours, makes him a valuable addition. Furthermore, he is a strong time trialist, a quality which is very important when racing for general classification. Thanks to Trek’s team of expert aerodynamicists, this is something we can continue to work on with Lennard.

While he’s still recovering from a serious crash earlier this year, we’re confident that he will return to top form – if not surpass it – wearing the Lidl-Trek jersey. Signing Lennard represents a significant step forward as we continue to build and strengthen our Team.”

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• City Tours >
• CAC River Cruise aboard C...

CAC River Cruise aboard Chicago's First Lady

Best Experiences in the US

Voted #1 Boat Tour in the US

#1 Chicago Boat Tour for 10+ years

6 best tours and walks in Chicago

Led by the Chicago Architecture Center's expertly trained docent volunteers, this 90-minute cruise reveals fascinating stories behind Chicago's majestic buildings in a way no other tour can.

Northeast corner of Michigan Ave. and E. Wacker Dr ( 112 E. Wacker Drive ). Look for the black awning marking the stairway entrance. Arrive 30 minutes prior to your cruise departure time. Allow extra time for traffic and parking in summer.

Tour Highlights

Rated #1 year after year.

Learn about the architects who created our city's magnificent buildings—and the stories behind them. Along the way, you'll also hear how Chicago grew from a small settlement into one of the world's largest cities.

This classic tour, aboard the city's most luxurious fleet, is a must for out-of-town visitors and Chicagoans alike.

Boat Amenities

About Our Boat Partner

Evening River Cruise

Serene and bathed in softer light, the city's architecture takes on a whole new life in the setting sun. Wind down and enjoy a cocktail with friends and family on our luxury boats. All departures later than 5:00 p.m.

Tour Information and Tips

• Each person must have a ticket, including infants and children. Please note that infant tickets must be purchased with an adult ticket.
• Seating is general admission
• The River Cruise is available in 4 languages: Continental French, Latin American Spanish, Japanese and Korean. To access these languages, please download the "Listen Everywhere" app in advance. Once you are on board the boat, the app will connect and allow you to listen in your selected language as the boat makes its way down the river.
• All tours depart rain or shine. Climate-controlled cabin is available.
• Arrive 30 minutes prior to your cruise departure time. Allow extra time for traffic and parking in summer.
• Cruise guests board 15 minutes before departure time.
• Tickets may not be refunded or exchanged if you miss your boat. Allow extra time.

Accessibility

Chicago’s First Lady Cruises works hard to ensure that everyone is able to access the beauty of their boats and enjoy a wonderful experience aboard. For the best experience, give us advance notice for any special boarding needs.

Guests with Limited Mobility – What to Expect Onboard

Handicap Accessible Boats

All our boats, except Chicago's First Lady & Chicago's Little Lady, are handicap accessible and offer a wheelchair-accessible restroom.

Seating Options

Guests who are unable to climb stairs to the upper deck may sit on the open-air bow deck or the climate-controlled cabin with large windows.

Accessing the Dock Area

For guests unable to use stairs, there are two options: an ADA-compliant ramp to the Riverwalk at Wacker Drive and State Street, or a drop-off area on the same level as our dock at Lower Lower Wacker Drive. View directions .

Assistance can be provided

Staff members will gladly take table-side drink orders for passengers with limited mobility.

Have more questions?

Please visit Chicago's First Lady or contact our tour operations team.

How to Buy Accessible Tour Tickets

Tickets for tours on accessible boats can be purchased by selecting the 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. or 5 p.m. departure times.

Wheelchairs Available for Use

For those requesting use of the company's manual wheelchair, please visit the dockside CFL River Cruise ticket office upon arrival.

Service Animals

We welcome service dogs onboard! The service animal must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered while in public places. Emotional support animals, pets and other animals not covered by ADA guidelines are not permitted. Please visit the ADA's FAQ on service animals for further details.

Boarding Ramps Available

When boarding the ship, guests cross two ramps and enter through a opening (doorway) that is 36" wide. Crew members can assist you in guiding the wheelchair across the gangway. Motorized scooters and electric wheelchairs may not board the ship; guests may utilize our manual wheelchair (based upon availability).

Who gives the tours?

All tours are given by CAC-certified  volunteer docents . Docents receive hundreds of hours of training about Chicago’s architecture and its history. They are storytellers and Chicago experts.

Where do we board the CAC River Cruise?

Meet at the Chicago’s First Lady boat dock at least 30 minutes prior to departure. The dock is located at the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue Bridge and Wacker Drive.

Look for the black awning at the stairway entrance (if using a GPS, enter 112 E. Wacker Drive ).

Are refunds or exchanges available for online ticket purchases?

Refunds and exchanges for ticket purchases are not permitted. Please double-check your dates and times before making a ticket purchase.

Is parking available?

The closest parking garage is located at  111 East Wacker Drive . CAC guests and members receive a discount on parking at this garage for up to 4 hours. You can receive a validated parking sticker at the Center box office or the dockside CFL River Cruise box office. The parking garage is open 24/7.

Several other public parking garages are available in the River North and Loop neighborhoods. You can also book convenient and affordable parking in advance through SpotHero, the nation's leading parking reservations app.

To reserve your parking spot, visit the  Chicago Architecture Center SpotHero Parking Page .

Group & Private Tours

Interested in a tour for a group? Learn more about our group and private tour options.

Fantastic views. Love the history and the facts about architecture! I highly recommend this boat tour to anyone visiting Chicago.

What an amazing tour!!! Our guide was fantastic! He was funny and knowledgeable and made the entire trip very interesting! I would highly recommend for anyone visiting the city; this is definitely one not to miss!

So worth it. This was a highlight of our trip. Just beautiful. Very interesting info, too! We learned a lot and had a great time.

Such a wonderful experience. Megan was very knowledgeable and her love and passion for her city made me fall in love with it too. Highly recommend.

Aerial view of the Chicago Architecture Center River Cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady. Photo by: Barry Butler

A docent shares stories on a CAC River Cruise. Photo by: Dennis Lee Photography.

The CAC River Cruise is an annual tradition for out-of-town visitors and Chicagoans alike. Photo by: Barry Butler.

Upgrade Your Ticket to See More

Looking for the ultimate Chicago architecture experience? Add admission to the center for just $5 (regular price $14) as an event extra in your Ticketmaster cart.

take the #1 boat tour in north america

As voted by USA Today readers!

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Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs: the Former Head of the Program Responsible for Investigating UAPs Reveals Profound Secrets Hardcover – August 20, 2024

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The former head of the Pentagon program responsible for the investigation of UFOs—now known as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP)—reveals long-hidden secrets with profound implications for not only national security but our understanding of the universe.

Luis “Lue” Elizondo is a former senior intelligence official and special agent who was recruited into strange and highly sensitive US government program to investigate UAP. To accomplish his mission, Elizondo had to rely on decades of experience gained working some of America’s most classified programs. Even then, he was not prepared for what he would learn, including the truth about the government’s long shadowy involvement in UAP investigations, and the lengths officials would take to keep it a secret.

For years, Elizondo and his colleagues found themselves on the front lines of what may be the greatest mystery and cover-up in history. Unidentified craft that seem to defy our knowledge of physics — within air, water, and space — have been operating with complete impunity since at least World War II. The military, the CIA, and even past presidents have known the truth that humanity is, in fact, not the only intelligent life in the universe. The nonhuman intelligence controlling these UAP are actively conducting surveillance on our most sensitive military installations, and have interfered with ongoing military and nuclear operations. US service members and intelligence officers who have encountered UAP have sustained serious medical injuries. And all of this is happening worldwide.

The stakes could not be higher. Imminent is a first-hand, revelatory account inside the Pentagon’s most closely guarded secret and a call to action to confront humanity’s greatest existential questions.  

• Print length 304 pages
• Language English
• Publisher William Morrow
• Publication date August 20, 2024
• Dimensions 6 x 0.97 x 9 inches
• ISBN-10 0063235560
• ISBN-13 978-0063235564
• See all details

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From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

"A procession of books in recent years have explored the UFO phenomenon but few perhaps with the authority Luis Elizondo brings as a Defense Department insider, laboring for decades to learn who the visitors are, where they are from and what they want." — Associated Press

About the Author

Luis “Lue” Elizondo  is the former head of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), the Pentagon unit that researched UFOs, now known as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). Prior to AATIP, Elizondo oversaw counterespionage and counterterrorism investigations worldwide for the Department of Defense, and also worked for the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Elizondo is a proud Army veteran, and later served his country throughout the world including South Korea, Latin America, the Caribbean, Afghanistan, and other countries throughout the Middle East. Elizondo is a graduate of the University of Miami, where he studied microbiology and immunology.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow (August 20, 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0063235560
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063235564
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.97 x 9 inches
• #1 in Astrophysics & Space Science (Books)
• #1 in UFOs (Books)
• #1 in Unexplained Mysteries (Books)

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Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs

Harper Collins

About the author

Luis elizondo.

Luis “Lue” Elizondo is the former head of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), the Pentagon unit that researched UFOs, now known as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). Prior to AATIP, Elizondo oversaw counterespionage and counterterrorism investigations worldwide for the Department of Defense, and also worked for the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Elizondo is a proud Army veteran, and later served his country throughout the world including South Korea, Latin America, the Caribbean, Afghanistan, and other countries throughout the Middle East. Elizondo is a graduate of the University of Miami, where he studied microbiology and immunology.

Customer reviews

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• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 85% 8% 4% 1% 2% 2%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

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Customers say

Customers find the book insightful, excellent, and an excellent read. They also praise the writing style as incredibly well written, engaging, and exciting. Readers also mention that the information he relays is clear and concise.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the book insightful, engaging, and exciting. They appreciate the incredible details and factual information about the phenomenon. Readers also describe the book as revolutionary, blending rigorous investigation with a deep sense of urgency. They mention it's a great historical document and a must-read.

"I found this book informative and well written. However, it became clear that Luis is missing many key historical aspects of this topic...." Read more

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Customers find the book an excellent read and the most important book of the decade.

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Customers find the book incredibly well written, engaging, page turning, and exciting. They also say the narrator does a fantastic job, and the book is a beautiful account of Mr. Elizando's life and patriotic work within the DOD. Readers also mention that the information he relays is clear, concise, and that the implications of his words are clear.

"I found this book informative and well written . However, it became clear that Luis is missing many key historical aspects of this topic...." Read more

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