Road to Valor: A True Story of World War II Italy, The Nazis, and the Cyclist who Inspired a Nation

Book: Road to Valor: A True Story of World War II Italy, The Nazis, and the Cyclist who Inspired a Nation

Author: Aili and Andres McConnon

Release date (if applicable): Published

Synopsis: During WWII bicyclist, Gino Bartali won the Tour de France and immediately became a propagandist tool of the Mussolini's Fascist government. Not a label he took lying down. He used it instead to hide his Resistance efforts and buila a network to supply Italian Jews with the documents necessary to keep them from Nazi concentration camps.

My rating: 4 Stars

My opinion: AMAZING STORY!  I read frequently on WWII. Lately, I have come across a large number of books that depict the personal stories of some of the civilian heroes of that war, which I have been sucking up like there is no tomorrow! This book was incredibly well research and painting a vivid picture of the characters involved.

So, why 4 stars out of 5? This book was 254 pages of "readable" material. A small bit told of Bartali's childhood and probably 100 pages was reserved for his actually work with the Resistance, which was FASCINATING.  The last chunk of the book...another 100 pages was his life following WWII. I would have liked to have seen more detail written about his work during WWII versus his life post WWII.

Source: Netgalley for Publisher

Would I recommend? : Yep...already have!

Stand Alone or Part of a Series: Stand alone

Special Note: I had originally been sent this book as an ebook by the publisher. I didn't think that this book transferred to an ebook version well. There are a number of pictures that I think didn't do as well in the ebook vs. the print version. Also, it just seemed like the formatting was "off" in the ebook version.  I decided to wait until the print version was released to finish this book and I am thrilled I did.