'An incredible and stirring story . . . a mix of competition camaraderie as well as a larky
sense of adventure . . . Down goes the flag. Smash goes the bottle. Shards of emerald glass and
champagne spume catch the light. The race from Peking to Paris has begun' Spectator 'And it's
Go Go Go . . . A captivating history of a seemingly impossible journey and one of the most
challenging endurance trials in the history of motoring . . . Skillful researcher and fine
storyteller St Clair's narrative is full of surprises . . . Fabulous . . . she hopes to follow
Prince Borghese on his heroic journey and - if you share my absorbed interest in her
adventurous narrative you may want to emulate her. See you there?' Miranda Seymour Literary
Review 10 June 1907 Peking. Five cars set off in a desperate race across two continents on the
verge of revolution. An Italian prince and his chauffeur a French racing driver a conman and
various journalists battle over steep mountain ranges and across the arid vastness of the Gobi
Desert. The contestants need teams of helpers to drag their primitive cars up narrow gorges
lift them over rough terrain and float them across rivers. Petrol is almost impossible to find
there are barely any roads armed bandits and wolves lurk in the forests. Updates on their
progress sent by telegram are eagerly devoured by millions in one of the first ever global
news stories. Their destination: Paris. More than its many adventures the Peking-to-Paris
provided the impetus for profound change. The world of 1907 is poised between the old and the
new: communist regimes will replace imperial ones in China and Russia the telegraph is
transforming modern communication and the car will soon displace the horse. In this book
bestselling author Kassia St Clair traces the fascinating stories of two interlocking races -
setting the derring-do (and sometimes cheating) of one of the world's first car races against
the backdrop of a larger geopolitical and technological rush to the future as the rivalry
grows between countries and empires building up to the cataclysmic event that changed
everything - the First World War. The Race to the Future is the incredible true story of the
quest against the odds that shaped the world we live in today.
