Impossible Journey: Peking to Paris, 1907 (With Kassia St. Clair)

The early days of the motorcar were troublesome, frustrating, and most of all, adventurous- if you agree that "adventure" by definition means there's a chance of risking life and limb. 

And why else would mankind attempt what might seem like folly or futility, other than for the excitement that adventure brings?

Such was the case with the 1907 Peking to Paris Motorcar Challenge, a stunt invented by a Paris newspaper and embraced by a motley bunch of daring automobilists: 8000 miles across tractless wastes and deep mire, pushing men and machines to the limit.

Kassia St. Clair has written a rousing account of it all entitled "The Race to the Future: 8,000 Miles to Paris - The Adventure That Accelerated the Twentieth Century".

And now, she's here to tell you about it.