A fast-paced account of Grand Prix racing in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s (the precursor to Formula One) is set against the backdrop of Hitler's rise in Germany. Two of the drivers who emerged as among the best of the time were Rudi Caracciola, a German who was featured by the Nazi party in their propaganda, and René Dreyfus, a French man of Jewish heritage. This narrative builds to their rivalry with breathtaking accounts of races in which they and others participated, while chronicling technological advances in car design among competing companies. The technology rivalries also take on nationalistic elements, pitting companies in Germany like Mercedes-Benz against one another and against other European makers, including the French company Delahye. The "American heiress" of the subtitle is Lucy Schell, a formidable racer herself as well as the financial backer for a French Delahye team. The paradigm in which these rivalries among individuals and companies are also presented as France and ideals of freedom versus German/Nazi fascism and anti-Semitism is a little forced at times (although more developed in the notes at volume's end), but it doesn't detract from what is, above all, a riveting story about sport, technology, and competition. Archival and personal papers are among the many sources cited in the work's bibliography and notes. (Ages 11-14)

The heart-pounding story of an unlikely band of ragtags who took on Hitler's Grand Prix driver.

In the years before World War II, Adolf Hitler wanted to prove the greatness of the Third Reich in everything from track and field to motorsports. The Nazis poured money into the development of new race cars, and Mercedes-Benz came out with a stable of supercharged automobiles called Silver Arrows. Their drivers dominated the sensational world of European Grand Prix racing and saluted Hitler on their many returns home with victory.As the Third Reich stripped Jews of their rights and began their march toward war, one driver, René Dreyfus, a 32-year-old Frenchman of Jewish heritage who had enjoyed some early successes on the racing circuit, was barred from driving on any German or Italian race teams, which fielded the best in class, due to the rise of Hitler and Benito Mussolini.So it was that in 1937, Lucy Schell, an American heiress and top Monte Carlo Rally driver, needed a racer for a new team she was creating to take on Germany's Silver Arrows. Sensing untapped potential in Dreyfus, she funded the development of a nimble tiger of a new car built by a little-known French manufacturer called Delahaye. As the nations of Europe marched ever closer to war, Schell and Dreyfus faced down Hitler's top drivers, and the world held its breath in anticipation, waiting to see who would triumph.