First of all, at 953 pages, this book must meet the definition of “comprehensive”. I wasn’t really paying attention to the page count when I ordered the book from David Bull Publishing and when I got it, I had this sinking feeling that I would never find the time to read it. Boy, was I wrong. The story of Enzo Ferrari is incredibly engrossing and because of that, I was able to make my way through the book in record time. Yes, I knew the general story of Ferrari before I started the book. But the details presented in the book, from his very long life, I found to be utterly fascinating.
The book is written by Luca Dal Monte, with a foreword by Luca Di Montenzemolo (previous Team Manager for the Ferrari F1 team). I have read Luca Dal Monte’s bio and I’m still not sure who he is. But he clearly had access to contemporaries of Ferrari to interview and he had the research skills to carefully write and document the life story of Enzo Ferrari. The Index runs to 39 pages, as the book is carefully documented with key info carefully cross referenced to its source. And although it is certainly a scholarly work, it is written in such a pleasant fashion that I read it like a novel. It was just plain interesting from start to finish.
Before I read this book, I did not have the best opinion of Enzo Ferrari, mainly based on the stories I had read from his various driver’s perspective. After reading this book, my opinion of him has softened quite a bit. He was a hard nosed businessman and made it through times that would have defeated most men. But I found that under the hard shell, he was an extremely decent guy.
I will never be able to afford to buy his cars but I sure enjoyed getting the back story on why Ferrari as a company has reached the stature that it has today.
Enzo Ferrari – Power, Politics, and the Making of an Automotive Empire
By Luca Dal Monte
David Bull Publishing
Hardcover – 953 pages
It’s Thick!
New Hill Garage 
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