Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang - Couverture souple

Reid, Jamie

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1909471518 ISBN 13 : 9781909471511

Editeur : Raceform Ltd, 2014

Synopsis

Doped is the gripping true-story racing thriller set in Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s. Combining a potent mix of horseracing, drugs, sex, class, crime, gambling and the monarchy, it tells the true story of one of the biggest doping scandals in British racing history. In March 1962 an audacious attempt to nobble one of the royal horses alerted police to a well organised band of racecourse criminals, backed by murderous London gangsters. The subsequent Flying Squad pursuit of the gang brought the quaintly deferential world of racing into sharp conflict with the harsher realities of the 'You've Never Had It So Good' era. This also coincided with the birth of the annual Dick Francis novel. The cast of characters is headed by William Roper, a debonair ex RAF Sergeant turned oddsmaker. His team included an ex jockey, numerous underpaid stable lads, an upper class gambling addict and a violent professional gangster who went on to face charges with the Kray twins in 1969. But the most fascinating member of Roper's firm was a beautiful and self-possessed young Swiss woman called Micheline Lugeon who became the bookmaker's lover and mistress.Short-listed for the 2013 William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Winner of the 2013 William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.

Doped is the gripping true-story racing thriller set in Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s. Combining a potent mix of horseracing, drugs, sex, class, crime, gambling and the monarchy, it tells the true story of one of the biggest doping scandals in British racing history. In March 1962 an audacious attempt to nobble one of the royal horses alerted police to a well organised band of racecourse criminals, backed by murderous London gangsters. The subsequent Flying Squad pursuit of the gang brought the quaintly deferential world of racing into sharp conflict with the harsher realities of the 'You've Never Had It So Good' era. This also coincided with the birth of the annual Dick Francis novel.
The cast of characters is headed by William Roper, a debonair ex RAF Sergeant turned oddsmaker. His team included an ex jockey, numerous underpaid stable lads, an upper class gambling addict and a violent professional gangster who went on to face charges with the Kray twins in 1969. But the most fascinating member of Roper's firm was a beautiful and self-possessed young Swiss woman called Micheline Lugeon who became the bookmaker's lover and mistress.

Revue de presse :

Dope tale will have us hooked........an explosive real life story......a real page turner. Claude Duval, The Sun

He has captured the Sixties milieu to a tee and served up a richly enjoyable slice of Turf history. Independent on Sunday

Forgive the cliché, but this really is a book that I couldn't put down --Anton Rippon, Sports Journalists Association

This is a fascinating book, very well written. --Dave Ord, www.sportinglife.com>Doped is a crackling, eye-opening read. --David Ashforth, Racing Post

impeccably-researched and furiously-paced ... unputdownable ... a breathless story of greed and corruption that shocked the nation. --Sport magazine

an absolutely thrilling read --William Hill Sports Book Award judges

a marvellous evocation of the period with late night stable visits by dopers, Soho gangsters, milk bars and Ford Zephyrs. --The Sunday Times

Doped superbly evokes a lost world of seedy glamour when spivs, racketeers and glamour pusses rubbed shoulders with aristocratic high-rollers. It would make a fantastic film --The Independent

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Raceform Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1909471518
• ISBN 13: 9781909471511
• Reliure: Paperback
• Nombre de pages: 320