The Boy, Richard Williams
The Boy, Richard Williams
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Boy
Stirling Moss: A Life in 60 Laps

Author: Richard Williams

Narrator: Richard Williams

Unabridged: 7 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/01/2021


Synopsis

'Captures the bold, engaging spirit of one of Britain’s best-loved sporting heroes' Sunday Times
'A fascinating read and sure to be the definitive account of his life' Mark Knopfler
SHORTLISTED FOR THE SPORTS WRITING BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

Even in the midst of a global pandemic, the death of Stirling Moss on 12 April 2020 at the age of 90 made headlines, almost 60 years after he retired from Formula One. In The Boy, Richard Williams assesses what made him such an iconic figure.

Told in 60 brief chapters, Williams builds a fascinating and revealing portrait of a driver who was a hero to millions. As the long years of war began to recede, sport in Britain was getting moving again and there was a need for heroes. Denis Compton and Stanley Matthews were in their pomp, playing to packed houses. But Stirling Moss was a fresh face, just 17 years old when he first emerged in 1947. Too young to have served and been scarred by the war, he was soon revealed to possess not only an unearthly degree of skill but the qualities of courage and resolution noted in the generation that fought in the air and on land and sea. Their youth had been stolen; his was new and unspoiled.

The Boy explains how and why he came to occupy such a unique place in the esteem and the affections of the nation. Why him, rather than some of his contemporaries, such as Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, who shared a role in the rise of Britain as a power in international motor racing? Moss may never have been world champion, but he created a remarkable and enduring legacy, and Williams brilliantly shows just how he did it.

About Richard Williams

Richard Williams was the chief sportswriter of the Guardian from 1995 to 2012, having previously worked for The Times and the Independent. He was the original presenter of BBC2's The Old Grey Whistle Test and was the artistic director of the Berlin Jazz Festival from 2015-17. Among his previous books are The Death of Ayrton Senna (1995), Racers (1997), Enzo Ferrari: A Life (2002) and The Last Road Race (2004). A Race with Love and Death is his most recent publication (Simon & Schuster, 2020).


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeremy on August 22, 2022

I am old enough to have seen Moss and his rivals Hawthorn & Collins race. This book is a very balanced modern take on Moss's heyday. Like other reviews this one makes clear his limitations as well as his strengths and the the demands of driving 170 - 180 mph F1 cars on skinny tyres and the the atten......more

Goodreads review by Jessica on April 18, 2022

As much of an insight into how things were in motor racing in the 50s and 60's as a biography of Sir Stirling Moss. The later chapters were probably more interesting, as they mostly featured behind the scenes stories from both Moss's life and the races he entered, whilst the earlier chapters were a......more

Goodreads review by Diogo on January 22, 2024

The life of one of the greatest drivers of all time told in 60 small episodes of his carreer and personal life. A unique perspective over the genius who never got the world, but whose wins largely cross the limits of the track......more

Goodreads review by Kieran on March 16, 2023

A really well written biography of a flawed genius. This book details his miraculous achievements but also briefly details his rather unsavoury views. I love the brevity of the chapters too, which keeps the book from slowing down its pace.......more

Goodreads review by Keith on January 19, 2023

A enjoyable book about the life of the great Stirling Moss. Well resourced and giving a balanced account of his life and time.......more


Quotes

‘Moss raced in 108 different cars, many lovingly described by Williams, who knows his torque from his traction. He writes skilfully for petrolheads but also those of us whose delight is in the quirky details... a book that is rather more than a biography. Call it an appreciation of what makes a sporting hero. This book would certainly be the starting point for any screenplay in affectionately setting out why Moss, the racer, was so revered.’

'A fascinating read and sure to be the definitive account of his life'

'Williams's fast-paced and affectionate biography...captures the bold, engaging spirit of one of Britain’s best-loved sporting heroes... [he] seems incapable of writing a dull sentence about these now legendary racing cars’

'An affectionate and atmospheric look at what it was which elevated him to iconic status'

'Williams's...work is incredibly good value for money. A fine introduction to both a bygone era and one of motorsport's greatest figures' 

The Boy is not a conventional biography…it offers 60 short chapters, each focusing on one incident, one person, one car or one aspect of Moss’s personality. This proves to be a fresh way of telling a story that’s been told many times before…We are in very safe hands with Richard Williams…[he] is, as ever, great at juggling the big picture and the tiny detail.’

'[A] sympathetic, exhaustive anatomy of an international sporting hero, part-time playboy and ultimate family man'