"Moto Guzzi has the most star-studded history of any Italian motorcycle marque, and in no sphere of it's activities is this more marked than racing. Quite simply, no other factory has managed to equal what Moto Guzzi has achieved since it began in 1920.

The story began when a Genoese shipping magnate donated the funds for his son and his business partner, Carlo Guzzi, to develop their first motorcycle. In these early days a works was established in the northern village of Mandello del Lario on the shores of Lake Como, and from it came some of the most astounding achievements in motorcycle racing history.

The sheer breadth of design configuration of these bikes is incredible: horizontal singles, parallel twins, V-twins in both in-line and transverse layouts, 3-cylinders, 4-cylinders in both horizontal and in-line from, and, of course the most amazing of all and still unmatched as the king of the Golden Age of Racing in the 1950's, the V8.

This is also a story of personalities, including not only the founding fathers, but riders such as Stanley Woods, Ombono Tenni, Fergus Anderson, Bruno Ruffo, Bill Lomas, Keith Campbell and Arthur Wheeler, plus engineers including Carlo Guzzi himself, Giulio Cesare Carcano, Umberto Todero, Antonio Micucci, Lino Tonti and John Wittner.

Long before the World Championships were introduced in 1949, Guzzi were European Champions. Then there were the many speed records on two, three and even four wheels, And more recently the large-capacity Guzzi V-twin has made something of a comeback with bikes such as the Daytona, 1100 Sport and the 6-speed V11. As leading motorcycle historian Mick Walker so vividly recounts, the Italian marque really did have that magic touch, which made race winners that were the envy of the world."

This is another excellent book on the Moto Guzzi marque written by the renowned motorcycle author, Mick Walker. This is the fourth Moto Guzzi book I own by this author and it's a little cracker.

The book is a 192 page hard back, lavishly illustrated throughout with black and white drawings and photographs, it also has eight centre pages of colour photographs. Mick Walker's writing style is technical, yet informative, in a smooth and friendly style. I have always enjoyed reading his books and this one is no exception. As the title says, this is a book about the racing history of Moto Guzzi, and it's a very extensive history indeed. If you ever wondered just how much involvement Moto Guzzi had with racing, this book will answer your questions.

Highly recommended.

First published in 2005 by The Crowood Press Ltd.

Author: Mick Walker

ISBN: 1-86126-735-5

RRP: £19.99