by Michael Hutchinson. History of cycling from the Draisienne or running machine to the present, concentrating on competitive cycling, by a Northern-Irish racing cyclist and writer, who has an impressive list of cycling wins. Just read it - very readable, even if, like me, you're not usually interested in the competitive side of cycling. Deals at some length with who invented the pedal-powered bike - Pierre Lallement, Pierre Michaux, or The Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan, without coming to a firm conclusion. Also explains why Britons were so crap at international massed-start cycle racing until 2012, when Wiggo wom the Tour, and Chris Froome won it three more times since. Recommended.
