Product Description

Voted the most popular Italian sportsman of the twentieth century, Fausto Angelo Coppi was the campionissimo - champion of cycling champions. The greatest cyclist of the immediate postwar years, Coppi's scandalous divorce and controversial death convulsed Italy in the 1950s and were still making headlines half a century later. In "Fallen Angel", William Fotheringham, author of the definitive biography of Tom Simpson, tells Coppi's story for the first time for an English-speaking audience. Coppi was the first man to win cycling's great double, the Tour de France and Tour of Italy in the same year - and he did it twice. He achieved mythical status for his crushing solo victories, world titles and world records. His epic rivalry with Gino Bartali divided Italian opinion for a decade. But his significance extends far beyond his sport. Coppi's divorce remains a landmark case in Italy's shift away from the church. In the 1950s, adultery in Italy was still a criminal offence, punishable by up to a year in prison. Coppi and his lover, the 'White Lady' Giulia Occhini, both married with children, were dragged from their beds in the middle of the night. They were excommunicated, and a clamorous legal battle followed. The 'White Lady' was forced to leave the country; Coppi himself died aged just forty, from malaria contracted during an insignificant race in Africa. "Fallen Angel" tells the story of Coppi's tragic life and death, of how a man who became the symbol of a nation's rebirth after the disasters of war died reviled and heartbroken. It is a unique portrait of Italy and Italian sport at a time of tumultuous social change.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1958 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Review
"A vivid rendering of the high price of fame in a dog-eat-dog world"
--Financial Times

About the Author
William Fotheringham writes for the Guardian and Observer on cycling and rugby. He is the author of a biography of Tom Simpson, Put Me Back on My Bike, which was acclaimed by Velo magazine as 'the best cycling biography ever written' and Roule Britannia: A History of Britons in the Tour de France.

Customer Reviews

Fotheringham's finest hour
Bill Fotherigham writes very well on cycling and I always look forward to his latest offering. For me this his best effort to date by some distance and also the best cycling biog I've read.

The reason for this is that, in this book, he avoids the usual formula of the racing and results and a potted history of the person. Insofar as the results are concerned, cycling is hamstrung by the palmares of Eddy Merckx, which is like like comparing the batting averages of Don Bradman against everyone else. There is no comparison: the gulf is too large. What he has done instead is weave a multi faceted story: the rags to riches story of the poor boy made good; the complex rivalry between himself and Gino Bartali; and of course his 'interesting' domestic life that polarised Italy. All this is interspersed against the historical, social and political upheaval of the war and after, and the social mores of Italy moving from the control of the church to a secular society. Ultimately, the story of the man is more interesting than the career.

Coppi and Bartali were two of Italy's greatest ever sports stars and the various photos that turn up in this book and elsewhere are iconic. They attained film star status with the media attention they attracted. And it makes me wonder what results they would have achieved but for the intervention of the War. Fotheringham also did a good thing in managing to get Raphael Geminiani onside as it's apparent he's good for a quote and very opinionated; and, quick to take umbrage like he did with Paul Howard's book on Jacques Anquetil.

I would recommend this book to any sports fan, not just to those interested in cycling because the sporting angle becomes subsumed in the life story, which makes it all the more worthy.

fallen angel
this book is more about the man than the cyclist one of the bestbooks I have ever read highly recommended

Fausto Coppi
A great read for anyone interested in the golden days of cycling and one of the all time greats.