Racing History

The story of one of racing's earliest dynasties, the historic Belair Stud, began with William Woodward's childhood memories of grand days at the racetrack, inspiring dreams of breeding a champion or two of his own. Woodward turned those dreams into reality, building Belair Stud on his family's Maryland estate, launching what would become the preeminent thoroughbred breeding and racing empire in America and chasing racing's biggest prizes in both the United States and England.

The powers-that-be in auto racing in the 1920s, namely the American Automobile Association's Contest Board, prohibited everyone who wasn't a White male from the sport. Dewey Gaston, a Black man who went by the name Rajo Jack, broke into the epicenter of racing in California, refusing to let the pervasive racism of his day stop him from competing against entire fields of White drivers. In The Brown Bullet, Bill Poehler uncovers the life of a long-forgotten trailblazer and the great lengths he took to even get on the track.

The 1890s was the peak of the American bicycle craze, and consumers, including women, were buying bicycles in large numbers. Despite critics who tried to discourage women from trying this new sport, women took to the bike in huge numbers, and mastery of the bicycle became a metaphor for women’s mastery over their lives. Spurred by the emergence of the “safety” bicycle and the ensuing cultural craze, women’s professional bicycle racing thrived in the United States from 1895 to 1902.

This is Volume III of Barking Mad British Traditions and Sports. Volumes I and II have been well received so I thought I'd write another follow-up with this third volume in the series. I hope you will be glad I have. Inside you will hear about 20 more of the most crazy, silly, and of course, barking mad things we British do to have a bit of fun and keep ourselves occupied. We are known for our eccentricity - here's some proof!