Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Racers by Neal Bascomb - Available

The Racers

How an Outcast Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Challenged Hitler's Best (Scholastic Focus)

by Neal Bascomb
Jon Lindstrom
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
The heart-pounding story of an unlikely band of ragtags who took on Hitler's Grand Prix driver.

In the years before World War II, Adolf Hitler wanted to prove the greatness of the Third Reich in everything from track and field to motorsports. The Nazis poured money into the development of new race cars, and Mercedes-Benz came out with a stable of supercharged automobiles called Silver Arrows. Their drivers dominated the sensational world of European Grand Prix racing and saluted Hitler on their many returns home with victory.As the Third Reich stripped Jews of their rights and began their march toward war, one driver, Rene Dreyfus, a 32-year-old Frenchman of Jewish heritage who had enjoyed some early successes on the racing circuit, was barred from driving on any German or Italian race teams, which fielded the best in class, due to the rise of Hitler and Benito Mussolini.So it was that in 1937, Lucy Schell, an American heiress and top Monte Carlo Rally driver, needed a racer for a new team she was creating to take on Germany's Silver Arrows. Sensing untapped potential in Dreyfus, she funded the development of a nimble tiger of a new car built by a little-known French manufacturer called Delahaye. As the nations of Europe marched ever closer to war, Schell and Dreyfus faced down Hitler's top drivers, and the world held its breath in anticipation, waiting to see who would triumph.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 6, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781338673449
      • File size: 182239 KB
      • Duration: 06:19:39

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • School Library Journal

      April 1, 2022

      Gr 7 Up-History alchemized through the Bascomb lens-Russian battleship Potemkin, WWI prison camp, Nazi Germany-is a guaranteed thrill-ride; his latest takes readers into the speediest cars of the 1930s. Adapting Faster for younger audiences, Bascomb details a prominent Nazi upset played out on wheels. Frenchman Ren� Dreyfus is the driver, turned outcast because of his Jewish parentage as Nazi power rises. The heiress is Lucy O'Reilly Schell, one of history's first women racers-and perhaps the most compelling character of all. The car is a singular Delahaye 145-its production made possible by Schell-that outraced Nazi-sponsored Mercedes Benz's best. Alas, Jon Lindstrom's unflagging energy pushes too often toward frenzied; he's also no polyglot, a necessary talent for narratively traversing Europe. Lazy glitches are many, beginning in the prologue: Lindstrom garbles "Place de la Concorde," while producers clumsily re-insert the phrase almost as if to accentuate the ineptitude. VERDICT Bascomb deserved better.

      Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading