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Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad but . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Review: A decent somewhat charming book about the Grand Boucle. One defect though is the treatment of Miguel Indurain. Fife downplays to the point of ridicule Indurain's contributions to cycling. Sadly his treatment of one of the greatest cyclists of all time calls his understanding of cycling and the book into question.
Rating: 
Summary: A big let-down
Review: Agree with A Reader from Colorado: the book does not live up to its title - more like "some history, some legends, some riders", a scattered, piecemeal collection of description and historical anecdote, with more about the author's own daytrip cycling up a couple of mountain climbs than I was interested in: personal diary entries that don't segue successfully with the other content.
Rating: 
Summary: Comes across a little opinionated, but...
Review: Despite his unfair treatment of Miguel Indurain's great career and Paul Kimmage's great book ("A Rough Ride"), this book does give the reader an interesting glimpse into the history of this great race. As others have commented, it is not comprehensive, the content being driven by the author's own passion for parts of the event's history.Worth a read if only to help understand the origins of the drugs scandals of recent years which can be traced back to the early years of the sport.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing Emphasis on His Own Rides
Review: Disappointing in it's emphasis on the authors rides of Tour routes followed by the exploits of British riders. Only then does he deal with other riders in an extremely disjointed way. Extremely opinionated view dismissing many of the great riders due to percieved personality faults or (in the case of Indurain) lack of intelligence. This does not add up to a treatment of the History of the Tour. It is more just a collection of unrelated anecdotes.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to follow. Ego trip for the author.
Review: First, let me say that I love the tour. I follow it with fanatic closeness and read as much about the tour as I possibly can. Now let me say that I really didn't like this book. The book jumps around from rider to rider in differnt time periods and then interjects the author's comments on climbing a particular hill (mountain). It is really hard to see what the organization of the book is. The author also says some really cruel thing. For example he calls big mig "Lovely man. No brain." and puts down LeMond. The most irritating part is the author has written his thoughts on climing some of the classics, but not in a race. He climbs them as part of a tour. It comes across as an ego trip and adds nothing to the book, particularly when this part is interjected in the middle of a writeup on a totally different subject. I'd really rather read a book from Abt. He is a supremely better author. The photos are also somewhat poor, especially when compared to Watson's photos in such books as Lance Armstrong and the 1999 Tour De France (which is a significantly better book). The book does have some good insites into older battles in the tour, but they really don't merit buying this book. One last nit is the author's use of French phrases with little or no explaination. I don't read very much French. Guess the author figured "Cest la Vie".
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Insights Interspersed With Turgid Prose
Review: Graeme Fife's "Tour de France" is not a chronological history of the Tour. It is a series of little stories loosely woven around famous mountain passes and legendary riders, alternating with personal anecdotes of the author's own experiences in climbing the same passes. There are some excellent passages in the book that give some glimpses into the personalities of the Tour. I was fascinated by Fife's portrayal of Henri Desgranges as both a stern and somewhat sadistic Tour director, how he shaped the Tour in its early days but also had the wisdom to bend with the times which allowed the Tour to grow into the premier event that it is today. There are gripping stories of what the early riders had to endure: attempted poisonings, poor nutrition, breaking bikes, trickery and sabotage. Unfortunately the reader pays a price. One has to wade through some paragraphs of overly flowery writing that will make you cringe. For example, Fife writes about the Col du Glandin: "Cloud pours over its rim, as it were from a hidden chimney serving the troll furnaces in the mountain's heart. Billows of smoke as white as steam, enough to herald a whole consistory full of new Popes. A diabolic machine stoking up ready for the engorging of the lone, the intrepid, Knight of the Campagnolo Gears advancing to meet the Dragon of the Mount Vicious in its swirls of inspissated mist." See what I mean? Sometimes it's difficult to peer into Fife's writing, as if it is indeed obscured by swirls of inspissated mist. Bottom line: if you can bear some overly romantic writing as well as some strong opinions, then this book may be worthwhile to get a series of unique glimpses into Tour history.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Insights Interspersed With Turgid Prose
Review: Graeme Fife's "Tour de France" is not a chronological history of the Tour. It is a series of little stories loosely woven around famous mountain passes and legendary riders, alternating with personal anecdotes of the author's own experiences in climbing the same passes. There are some excellent passages in the book that give some glimpses into the personalities of the Tour. I was fascinated by Fife's portrayal of Henri Desgranges as both a stern and somewhat sadistic Tour director, how he shaped the Tour in its early days but also had the wisdom to bend with the times which allowed the Tour to grow into the premier event that it is today. There are gripping stories of what the early riders had to endure: attempted poisonings, poor nutrition, breaking bikes, trickery and sabotage. Unfortunately the reader pays a price. One has to wade through some paragraphs of overly flowery writing that will make you cringe. For example, Fife writes about the Col du Glandin: "Cloud pours over its rim, as it were from a hidden chimney serving the troll furnaces in the mountain's heart. Billows of smoke as white as steam, enough to herald a whole consistory full of new Popes. A diabolic machine stoking up ready for the engorging of the lone, the intrepid, Knight of the Campagnolo Gears advancing to meet the Dragon of the Mount Vicious in its swirls of inspissated mist." See what I mean? Sometimes it's difficult to peer into Fife's writing, as if it is indeed obscured by swirls of inspissated mist. Bottom line: if you can bear some overly romantic writing as well as some strong opinions, then this book may be worthwhile to get a series of unique glimpses into Tour history.
Rating: 
Summary: Probably the best book ever on the Tour
Review: Graeme Fife's scholarly yet personal appraisal of the Tour de France is an essential book for anyone coming to the Tour for the first time. With the expected upsurge in interest related to the 100th anniversary in 2003 this account presents a comprehensive overview of the event with a plethora of anecdote, observation and detail. An absolute must for anyone who rides a bike!
Rating:
Summary: We loved this book.
Review: This book is just what you need if you have all the recently pubished tour de France books but have never had the chance to climb all those famous cols .Really is one for the true lover of the tour .It gets right into the feel of this historic race .Both my husband and I have read it several times over and bought it as presents for christmas .
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