French Cycling: A Social and Cultural History by Hugh Dauncey (review)

artistic movement that has long been overlooked by offering new perspectives. Not only does she revisit the movement’s most influential critics—Restany never feels very far away while reading the text—in order to suggest alternative modes of interpretation, but she also engages with the political and social upheavals of 1960s France and the manner in which French society adjusted to the rapid growth of consumer society (see Kristin Ross, Fast Cars, Clean Bodies: Decolonization and the Reordering of French Culture, MIT, 1995). Carrick’s work will appeal to those with interests in cultural and artistic movements of post-World War II France, memory and commemoration, modernity, spectacle, gender, and to a lesser extent the connections between Nouveau Réalisme and the nouveau roman, Georges Perec in particular. Southern Connecticut State University Luke L. Eilderts Dauncey, Hugh. French Cycling: A Social and Cultural History. Liverpool: Liverpool UP, 2012. ISBN 978-1-84631-835-1. Pp. 290. £70. This comprehensive, well-researched, and thoroughly-documented book covers the sociocultural aspects of cycling in France from its beginnings in the 1860s to the present state of the sport as competition and recreation. It focuses not so much on the technical aspects of cycling and racing as on the many rival clubs and organizations that fostered the sport, and the newspapers that championed them. Each of these publications held a particular view on various contentious aspects of cycling. Among the polarizing issues were advocacy for leisure riding, favored by wealthy amateurs, or for racing, favored by working-class racing fans and by professional racing cyclists who emerged from the same social stratum. These polarities were mirrored in debates over whether teams should be sponsored, and whether they should represent countries or commercial entities. Despite their differences, the cycling organizations served to promote the bicycle as a vehicle for leisure, for racing and, increasingly, for transportation . Dauncey’s history extends to current developments such as the creation of bicycle paths throughout France and the system of bicycle loaning now established in Paris and other urban areas. He also addresses the doping scandals of recent decades and Lance Armstrong’s downfall. The first pedal bicycles, or vélocipèdes, appeared in France in the 1860s, and leisure cycling shortly became a popular pastime among the upper classes. The introduction of professional racing in the 1890s gave riders of humbler origin opportunities to earn prize money.These races attracted avid,generally workingclass supporters. The early days of cycling offered two types of events, track racing in vélodromes, where racers won by completing the most laps, and the first stage races, which entailed cycling to various parts of France. The most famous of all cycling races, the Tour de France, was launched in 1903 by the newspaper L’Auto as a way to increase its circulation. With a race that extended three weeks, reporters could describe each stage, interview racers and feature anecdotes about the Tour. The newspapers created 284 FRENCH REVIEW 87.3 Reviews 285 the star system that encouraged the public to follow the exploits of their favorites. Dauncey does not cover individual races or stars through the years but does focus on a few legends such as Raymond Poulidor and Jacques Anquetil in the 1960s and 1970s and on Jeannie Longo, whose individual ambition and feminist attitude incited controversy. Dauncey’s book is encyclopedic in its coverage of the place of bicycling in French society from the 1860s to the present. He has exhaustively researched how cycling fared as a sport, a profession, and a spectator pastime during this period that covers three wars on French soil, changes in transportation unimagined when the bicycle was invented, and remarkable refinements in the bicycle itself. He carefully documents the activities, views, and rivalries involving bicycle clubs and newspapers. This book provides a close look at a part of French culture that provides a fruitful perspective on the whole, and is a wonderfully enjoyable read as well. University of Massachusetts, Amherst Jean-Pierre Berwald Fottorino, Éric. Suite à un accident grave de voyageur. Paris: Gallimard, 2013. ISBN 978-2-07-014064-0. Pp. 64. 8,20 a. How does one react to the terrible tragedy of...