The Peace Race Book

Launched in the post-war ruins of 1948, this was an annually held multi-stage cycling race, running between Prague, Warsaw and Berlin, created by the ruling Communists as a rival to the ‘Tour de France’.

‘The Polish School of Posters‘ refers to a lauded group of post-war state funded Polish artists. They worked to produce posters for all purposes, including both Polish and Western cinema, the theatre, tourism, and sporting events – which included most notably; The Peace Race.

We share with you a chronological summary of each year’s race and displaying its eye-catching race poster, and these will be accompanied by a wealth of associated race items; all sourced, photographed and shared from collections across Europe.

A large format coffee-table book (21cm x 29cm), illustrated with over 500 images, showcasing a wealth of jerseys and cycling ephemera, alongside many classic and previously unpublished archive images.

Added to these images of numerous race items and posters, we will also be bringing you key information and anecdotes about both the specialities and peculiarities of this mythic race; the riders invited from across the globe to participate, the huge crowds that lined the race route, the races heavy handed symbolism, the iconic stage climbs, the gladiatorial stadium stage finishes, the frankly bizarre race prizes, and most fundamentally, the race context; which both afforded cyclists from the Eastern Bloc the (very) rare chance to cross their countries border, and much more alarmingly in 1986, found the riders forced to cycle a race stage that was within a few kilometres of an open nuclear reactor core, yes – Chernobyl!

This book is created to the highest standards, encased in a hard backed cover complete with dust jacket, with pages printed on heavy 150gsm ‘Creator Silk’ stock which feels wonderful to the touch.

This large format coffee table book weighs in at a hefty 1.4kg, and its 200 pages are simply packed with gorgeous images and fascinating background stories!