by Kassia St
First published 2026
The 1907 Peking-to-Paris Motor Challenge brought together an unlikely cast: an Italian prince with his chauffeur, a French racing driver, a con man, and competing journalists. They drove across two continents through mountain passes and the Gobi Desert, searching for fuel and navigating roads that barely existed. Millions worldwide followed their progress through telegraph reports. Kassia St. Clair frames this automotive adventure within the broader transformation happening around it. Imperial China and Russia were collapsing while communist movements gained strength. The telegraph was reshaping communication, news, and commerce. The automobile was displacing horses and changing how products were marketed. St. Clair argues that this race became a turning point, accelerating social and industrial changes that would define the modern era. She connects the drivers' journey to the fall of the Qing dynasty, the decline of horse-based transportation, and the development of gendered advertising. The book traces how mounting tensions between nations and empires built toward World War I. St. Clair offers readers both an engaging race narrative and an analysis of how this competition reflected and influenced the technological and political shifts that launched the twentieth century.
Genres: history, 20th-century, adventure, non-fiction
Vibes: engaging, informative, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-narrative, social-commentary
Setting: Peking, Paris, Gobi Desert, China, Russia
Period: 1907, 20th Century
384 pages · Paperback · Liveright