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The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman

A Bone-Shaking Tour Through Cycling’s Flemish Heartlands

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The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman

Written by: Harry Pearson
Narrated by: Harry Pearson
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman written and read by Harry Pearson.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2020 – CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR

LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019

'A joy.' – Ned Boulting

Every nation shapes sport to test the character traits it most admires.

In The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman, committed Belgophile and road cycling obsessive Harry Pearson takes you on a journey across Flanders, through the lumpy horizontal rain, up the elbow juddering cobbled inclines, past the fans dressed as chickens and the shop window displays of constipation medicines, as he follows races big, small and even smaller through one glorious, muddy spring.

Ranging over 500 years of Flemish and European history, across windswept polders, along back roads and through an awful lot of beer cafes, Pearson examines the characters, the myths and rivalries that make Flanders a place where cycling is a religion and the riders its lycra-clad priests.

©2019 Harry Pearson (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Pty Ltd
Cycling Europe History of Sports Travel Writing & Commentary Western Western Europe Outdoor
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Funny, Fascinating & Revealing

I listen to this book every February now before Omloop and opening weekend. It’s the perfect way to re-immerse oneself in the unique mood of Flemish racing and the understated grandeur and grit of these Spring Classics.

Harry Pearson is a wonderful voice — if there are similar books of his out there for French and Italian races I’ll be reading them too.

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