"From the earliest days of motoring, carmakers used motor sport as a proving ground for their machines, though the importance of the sport in the public imagination soon eclipsed mere trials of engineering. Even before the start of the 20th century, motor racing gained a reputation as an arena where almost gladiatorial battles were fought, graduating from intercity road races to closed-road circuits to dedicated racing tracks. In hundreds of captioned black and white photographs from the Getty Images archives, this book shows motor racing as it once was, from the 1890s to the 1950s, portraying the exploits of drivers like Jenatzy and Boillot, Campbell and Caracciaola, and the latter-day giants Ascari, Fangio, and Moss. The text is in English, German, and French."