The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman: A Bone-shaking Tour through Cycling’s Flemish Heartlands

From obscure to better known facts , the author knows them all. Guzzling beers and appreciating the Belgian fries he visits every hamlet in both Flanders where a race ever passed through.

Harry Pearson, who, shamefully, is no longer employed by The Guardian, has come up with another lovely book. A funny, interesting, and beautifully written book about the history of cycling in Flanders.

I have not been to Flanders for the spring classics season but very much desire to do so. This book caught my eye when looking for a new read and I'm so glad I did! Harry ticks all the boxes as he journeys from the first semi classic race through to the Paris Roubiax, chronicling the journey with details and observations, of the people and places and the history of the Flandrian riders and the passion, obsession, neurosis of the Flemish for bike racing. His writing style is both down to earth yet highly competent of an author of any genre, but most of all he wraps it all up with a great sense of humour! A highly entertaining and informative read for any bike racing fan, deffo 5 stars.

Having passed it over for purchase a few times when skimming through Amazon, I finally bought this book, and I'm glad I did. To the best of my knowledge, there have not been any other English-language books covering this area of cycling and, unlike, say, a book on the Tour de France, this one introduced much that was new to me. Many of the cyclists' names were familiar, but this provided new detail, and did it in an entertaining way. Harry Pearson is passionate about his subject, and writes well and with humour. Highly recommended.

I love Harry Pearson books, primarily because we have alarmingly similar interests so subject matter is close to my heart. Typically its witty and informative. This one blends history with current events and in the moment travelogue more so than some of the others with lots of detail on past Belgian racers. Feels harsh to give 4 stars just because I am not interested in Belgian cyclists pre 2000 but there you go ;-) . I did really enjoy the race descriptions and observations so on balance its a keeper

This is equal parts bike history, travelogue and an ode to Flemish grit and determination. The Tour de France may get the publicity but, for true cycling fans, Flanders in the spiritual home of cycling, the Valhalla of the sport.This follows the author around the Flemish classics in 2017. You have a write up of the races, a history of Flemish cycling and the heroes it spawned. It is not just about cycling though but the story of a love affair with this particular region and its people.Highly recommended for fans and those with no knowledge.

If you like your cycling history and your Belgian racing you can't go wrong. There is plenty of humour and maybe, just maybe the jokes sometimes come a bit too thick and fast. Having said that, I laughed out loud a couple of times. Very good.