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The Grand Prix Saboteurs: The Grand Prix Drivers Who Became British Secret Agents During World War II
James Bond meets Michael Schumacher The idea of racing drivers working as secret agents is at best far-fetched but The Grand Prix Saboteurs tells the amazing TRUE story of how three top Grand Prix drivers from the 1920s and 1930s worked for a clandestine British secret service in occupied France, during World War II. The product of 18 years of research, The Grand Prix Saboteurs tells a story that remained top secret until the British Government finally agreed to release them in 2003. The book dazzles with swashbuckling escapes, shocking betrayals and a story you will never forget.
363 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 11, 2024
Interesting study of largely allied nation Grand Prix drivers and their war service. Each chapter covered a driver’s racing pedigree and background and their war service. It perhaps comes as no surprise that many of those who led an adventurous life on the race track, showed similar courage during the war. Not heavy on detail, but enjoyable, an easy read for anyone interested in the history of motor racing.
November 19, 2020
This is a well written and well researched book about three former Grand Prix drivers from the 20's and 30's who wound up fighting with the Resistance in France. Lots of intrigue and double crossing. It was hard to know who to trust and whether to trust what people said. It also has some hair raising escapes. I certainly recommend reading this book.
A great companion to this book is "Early One Morning" by Robert Ryan. It is a fictionalized book of the same story. It was excellent also.
A great companion to this book is "Early One Morning" by Robert Ryan. It is a fictionalized book of the same story. It was excellent also.
July 24, 2011
Review originally written for http://motorsportsramblings.blogspot.com
To say that The Grand Prix Saboteurs is long awaited is perhaps an understatement. I first became aware that Joe Saward was working on the story of "Williams", the winner of the inaugural Monaco Grand Prix, when he mentioned in passing that there was as interesting story he was researching about him for a book, in one of his Globetrotter columns, back in 2001.
Apparently, though, he has been working on this story since the late 1980s, when his editor at Autosport suggested that he might want to look into the story of W Williams. After 18 years, he was finally able to tie up the loose ends in the story to his own satisfaction but was unable to interest a mainstream publisher in the story. In the end, unwilling to let nearly two decades of work go to waste, he published the book himself.
For those not familiar with the story, William Grover Williams and Robert Benoist were racing drivers in the late 1920s and 1930s, who went on to serve with the Special Operations Exective, directing the French Resistance, during the Second World War. Its not the only time that the worlds of motorsport and espionage and subterfuge have collided (Don Nichols was rumoured to be a CIA agent before, and perhaps after the time he spent running the Shadow F1 team in the 1970s) but it is hard to imagine say, Michael Schumacher or Jenson Button acting as special agents in Iraq or Afghanistan today.
The first part of the book concerns itself with the racing careers of William Grover-Williams, who raced under the pseudonym Williams to ensure his family did not find out what he was up to, and of Robert Benoist, the French gamekeeper's son who achieved a fair measure of success driving for Delahaye and later, for Bugatti. This section of the book is well enough researched, and gives plenty of background on both Benoist and Williams, but somehow does not really capture the spirit of the era in the same way that, for instance, Robert Edwards captures the feel of the racing scene in the 1950s in his biographies of Moss and Scott-Brown, or Gerald Donaldson does with the late 1970s in his books on James Hunt and Gilles Villeneuve.
To be fair though, the racing careers of Benoist and Williams are not the central focus of this book. Had they only been racing drivers, their stories might have been reasonably diverting, but they probably wouldn't really merit a book (at least not until someone has written a really definitive biography of Dick Seaman, but that's for another day). In fact, the opening section of the book is most interesting for the light it sheds on why racing drivers of the 1920s might have turned out to be ideal material for underground operations in France during the second World War. The willingness to take life-threatening risks, but also the cool, calculating mindset required to avoid taking or gratuitous or unnecessary chances would have been equally useful on pre-war racing circuits and in undetaking sabotage missions in occupied France.
In places, the book reads almost like an Ian Fleming spy thriller. The story of Robert Benoist's escape from German Secret Police in Paris after being arrested for the first time could have come straight from a Bond film and the book brilliantly captures the tension and uncertainty that Williams must have felt when he was parachuted into France for the first time in May 1942.
Saward has clearly done his homework on the broader politics and history of the French Resistance. There are numerous tales of double agent and double crosses, not to mention Saward's discovery that Benoist was probably betrayed to the Germans by Violette Szabo, Britain's most celebrated World War 2 spy. He goes to some length to explain the modus operandi of the Resistance - their preference for low key, subtle sabotage over the big explosions and shootings which would have served only to encourage the Germans to take revenge on the local population, and to turn them against the Resistance.
He does well, too, in drawing out the grey lines between those who had to give the appearance of co-operating with the Germans in order to avoid arousing suspicion, and those who were either playing both sides, or who were actively collaborating. In some cases, notably that of the mysterious Henri Dericourt (who surely merits a book in his own right) its not always even clear if he knew for sure himself which side he was really on. Matters were often complicated by the fact that, after the war, many suspected collaborators claimed to be double agents who were working under cover and that the only people who could vouch for them had been killed. Some were probably telling the truth. Others were not. (Incidentally, though Saward never mentions him by name, former FIA president Jean Marie Balestre's war record is decidedly murky, to the point where nobody really knows for sure who he was working for).
Inevitably, the book takes on a darker, more sombre tone when Benoist and Williams' luck ran out and, as the allied advance through France proceeded, the action shifts from Paris to the concentration camps of Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. In this part of the book, Saward debunks the romantic notion that Williams, at least, survived and lived out the rest of his life under an assumed name in southern France (as Robert Ryan appears to suggest in his fictionalised account of their story, Early One Morning).
Unfortunately, the readability of the book is in places compromised by the inclusion of too much detail which is ultimately somewhat extraneous and tangential to the story. It is almost as if Saward (a history graduate who has spent a long time researching this book) is desperate to make use of literally everything he was able to uncover in the national archives. There were times, too, when I wondered whether he couldn't quite make up his mind whether he was writing principally about Benoist, Williams and (to a lesser extent) Jean Pierre Wimille, or about SOE operations in France more generally. The result is an ever so slightly messy compromise between the two. One suspects that this is a pitfall of self-publication, and that a good editor might have helped to tidy the book up in this respect.
In the end, I can't quite recommend the book unreservedly, but when compared with the endless dull production line biographies of racing drivers whose lives really aren't that remarkable (and in some cases, whose careers have barely begun- step forward Brian Belton with "Lewis Hamilton: A Dream Comes True) this is certainly a much more worthwhile and interesting read. It might not be for every racing fan, but if the subject matter intrigues you at all, you really ought to check it out.
To say that The Grand Prix Saboteurs is long awaited is perhaps an understatement. I first became aware that Joe Saward was working on the story of "Williams", the winner of the inaugural Monaco Grand Prix, when he mentioned in passing that there was as interesting story he was researching about him for a book, in one of his Globetrotter columns, back in 2001.
Apparently, though, he has been working on this story since the late 1980s, when his editor at Autosport suggested that he might want to look into the story of W Williams. After 18 years, he was finally able to tie up the loose ends in the story to his own satisfaction but was unable to interest a mainstream publisher in the story. In the end, unwilling to let nearly two decades of work go to waste, he published the book himself.
For those not familiar with the story, William Grover Williams and Robert Benoist were racing drivers in the late 1920s and 1930s, who went on to serve with the Special Operations Exective, directing the French Resistance, during the Second World War. Its not the only time that the worlds of motorsport and espionage and subterfuge have collided (Don Nichols was rumoured to be a CIA agent before, and perhaps after the time he spent running the Shadow F1 team in the 1970s) but it is hard to imagine say, Michael Schumacher or Jenson Button acting as special agents in Iraq or Afghanistan today.
The first part of the book concerns itself with the racing careers of William Grover-Williams, who raced under the pseudonym Williams to ensure his family did not find out what he was up to, and of Robert Benoist, the French gamekeeper's son who achieved a fair measure of success driving for Delahaye and later, for Bugatti. This section of the book is well enough researched, and gives plenty of background on both Benoist and Williams, but somehow does not really capture the spirit of the era in the same way that, for instance, Robert Edwards captures the feel of the racing scene in the 1950s in his biographies of Moss and Scott-Brown, or Gerald Donaldson does with the late 1970s in his books on James Hunt and Gilles Villeneuve.
To be fair though, the racing careers of Benoist and Williams are not the central focus of this book. Had they only been racing drivers, their stories might have been reasonably diverting, but they probably wouldn't really merit a book (at least not until someone has written a really definitive biography of Dick Seaman, but that's for another day). In fact, the opening section of the book is most interesting for the light it sheds on why racing drivers of the 1920s might have turned out to be ideal material for underground operations in France during the second World War. The willingness to take life-threatening risks, but also the cool, calculating mindset required to avoid taking or gratuitous or unnecessary chances would have been equally useful on pre-war racing circuits and in undetaking sabotage missions in occupied France.
In places, the book reads almost like an Ian Fleming spy thriller. The story of Robert Benoist's escape from German Secret Police in Paris after being arrested for the first time could have come straight from a Bond film and the book brilliantly captures the tension and uncertainty that Williams must have felt when he was parachuted into France for the first time in May 1942.
Saward has clearly done his homework on the broader politics and history of the French Resistance. There are numerous tales of double agent and double crosses, not to mention Saward's discovery that Benoist was probably betrayed to the Germans by Violette Szabo, Britain's most celebrated World War 2 spy. He goes to some length to explain the modus operandi of the Resistance - their preference for low key, subtle sabotage over the big explosions and shootings which would have served only to encourage the Germans to take revenge on the local population, and to turn them against the Resistance.
He does well, too, in drawing out the grey lines between those who had to give the appearance of co-operating with the Germans in order to avoid arousing suspicion, and those who were either playing both sides, or who were actively collaborating. In some cases, notably that of the mysterious Henri Dericourt (who surely merits a book in his own right) its not always even clear if he knew for sure himself which side he was really on. Matters were often complicated by the fact that, after the war, many suspected collaborators claimed to be double agents who were working under cover and that the only people who could vouch for them had been killed. Some were probably telling the truth. Others were not. (Incidentally, though Saward never mentions him by name, former FIA president Jean Marie Balestre's war record is decidedly murky, to the point where nobody really knows for sure who he was working for).
Inevitably, the book takes on a darker, more sombre tone when Benoist and Williams' luck ran out and, as the allied advance through France proceeded, the action shifts from Paris to the concentration camps of Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. In this part of the book, Saward debunks the romantic notion that Williams, at least, survived and lived out the rest of his life under an assumed name in southern France (as Robert Ryan appears to suggest in his fictionalised account of their story, Early One Morning).
Unfortunately, the readability of the book is in places compromised by the inclusion of too much detail which is ultimately somewhat extraneous and tangential to the story. It is almost as if Saward (a history graduate who has spent a long time researching this book) is desperate to make use of literally everything he was able to uncover in the national archives. There were times, too, when I wondered whether he couldn't quite make up his mind whether he was writing principally about Benoist, Williams and (to a lesser extent) Jean Pierre Wimille, or about SOE operations in France more generally. The result is an ever so slightly messy compromise between the two. One suspects that this is a pitfall of self-publication, and that a good editor might have helped to tidy the book up in this respect.
In the end, I can't quite recommend the book unreservedly, but when compared with the endless dull production line biographies of racing drivers whose lives really aren't that remarkable (and in some cases, whose careers have barely begun- step forward Brian Belton with "Lewis Hamilton: A Dream Comes True) this is certainly a much more worthwhile and interesting read. It might not be for every racing fan, but if the subject matter intrigues you at all, you really ought to check it out.
June 15, 2023
Subject matter 5/5
Presentation 3/5
Presentation 3/5
January 14, 2020
When I hear the term "Grand Prix" I naturally think of Formula 1. But before F1, before WWII, there were many Grand Prix races. This book is about the contributions of some of these Grand Prix drivers who worked with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) helping the French Resistance during the war.
The first chapter is the dramatic telling of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague in May of 1942 by SOE operatives. It really has nothing to do with the rest of the story, but it's not a bad way to start.
The next 70 or so pages tell us of the early lives and racing careers a few interesting drivers: Willy Grover ("W Williams"), Robert Benoist, and Jean-Pierre Wimille. We will follow these men's stories until the end of the war.
The last 40 pages return us to racing in France during the summer of 1945, after the defeat of Germany. We also get a short recap common for this sort of book, telling the fates of many of the other characters we meet during the story.
I found the book fascinating, as I'm a big fan of motorsports and have a deep interest in World War II. Up to now, the two subjects had never overlapped. Now I learn that that isn't true. Perhaps this should have been obvious, even if never illuminated for me. Hundreds of millions of people who lived through the war (or who didn't survive it) could tell fascinating stories. Why shouldn't some of those stories be told by racing drivers?
The book includes some photos, an index, and a short bibliography. There are no notes, however, which makes it hard for me to figure out which sources might merit further study.
The first chapter is the dramatic telling of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague in May of 1942 by SOE operatives. It really has nothing to do with the rest of the story, but it's not a bad way to start.
The next 70 or so pages tell us of the early lives and racing careers a few interesting drivers: Willy Grover ("W Williams"), Robert Benoist, and Jean-Pierre Wimille. We will follow these men's stories until the end of the war.
The last 40 pages return us to racing in France during the summer of 1945, after the defeat of Germany. We also get a short recap common for this sort of book, telling the fates of many of the other characters we meet during the story.
I found the book fascinating, as I'm a big fan of motorsports and have a deep interest in World War II. Up to now, the two subjects had never overlapped. Now I learn that that isn't true. Perhaps this should have been obvious, even if never illuminated for me. Hundreds of millions of people who lived through the war (or who didn't survive it) could tell fascinating stories. Why shouldn't some of those stories be told by racing drivers?
The book includes some photos, an index, and a short bibliography. There are no notes, however, which makes it hard for me to figure out which sources might merit further study.
October 5, 2023
For a book about a very unspoken history of SOE Agents, Saboteurs and Race Car drivers, Im finally glad I got to get around to read this book. Originally only knowing a little about "W Williams" it has turned into a much more unique tale about the Resistance of the war and the many hardships they faced in the Nazi Occupation, the high anxiety of being caught and the dangers they faced every moment before the Allied Invasions on D-Day. A Fascinating book for war historian and racing buff out there.
May 18, 2020
(PT) A história de alguns dos espiões da Secção F da SOE, Special Operations Executive, que durante a II Guerra Mundial foram lançados na França ocupada pelos Nazis, com o objetivo de criar redes de Resistência e ocupar-se em atos de sabotagem. Uma história de muito heroísmo e tragédia, entre eles o de dois pilotos de automobilismo: William Grover "Williams", o primeiro vencedor do GP do Mónaco, em 1929, e Robert Benoist, vencedor das 24 Horas de Le Mans em 1937, a bordo de um Bugatti.
February 19, 2025
I'd venture that few know of these exploits: Gran Prix drivers who worked with SOE. It's a most enjoyable read.
February 26, 2016
Grand Prix drivers, proper race winning works drivers in Bugatti's too, who later become SOE agents chased around Paris by the Nazis. It reminds me of a sketch by Harry Enfield called the Playboys which I found hilarious as a teenager, especially for this line (where the video starts)
https://youtu.be/Zh9XzFhGI8g?t=152
"He's got a start on us, do you reckon we'll catch him"
"I didn't win four Grand Prix in a row for nothing"
I always found that sketch an accurate spoof of the nonsense characters from British TV shows of the 70s, depicting jolly brave chaps chasing bad guys around, who also had exotic backgrounds like 'Grand Prix Driver'. All such nonsense and all the more entertaining for it...
Well it turns out it wasn't nonsense at all and Grand Prix Saboteurs is a detailed account of not one, but two successful Grand Prix drivers working for SOE deep undercover in occupied France.
You couldn't really invent a better subject matter for my tastes, and the book certainly delivers the facts and details of how Williams and Benoist developed as drivers and SOE agents.
The reviews on the back cover comparing the book to a 'Le Carre thriller' with 'swashbuckling escapes' and 'shocking betrayals' does paint a totally inaccurate picture though.
Instead the book is a compilation of facts from what seems like very painstaking research, dates, venues and deductions derived from various sources describes where these men must have been and what they must have been through.
It is still an essential read purely for the value of the facts that the book is all about, but the lack of information specifically pertaining to the protagonists is highlighted by how deeply the author goes into events surrounding more well known agents, where more information is available.
https://youtu.be/Zh9XzFhGI8g?t=152
"He's got a start on us, do you reckon we'll catch him"
"I didn't win four Grand Prix in a row for nothing"
I always found that sketch an accurate spoof of the nonsense characters from British TV shows of the 70s, depicting jolly brave chaps chasing bad guys around, who also had exotic backgrounds like 'Grand Prix Driver'. All such nonsense and all the more entertaining for it...
Well it turns out it wasn't nonsense at all and Grand Prix Saboteurs is a detailed account of not one, but two successful Grand Prix drivers working for SOE deep undercover in occupied France.
You couldn't really invent a better subject matter for my tastes, and the book certainly delivers the facts and details of how Williams and Benoist developed as drivers and SOE agents.
The reviews on the back cover comparing the book to a 'Le Carre thriller' with 'swashbuckling escapes' and 'shocking betrayals' does paint a totally inaccurate picture though.
Instead the book is a compilation of facts from what seems like very painstaking research, dates, venues and deductions derived from various sources describes where these men must have been and what they must have been through.
It is still an essential read purely for the value of the facts that the book is all about, but the lack of information specifically pertaining to the protagonists is highlighted by how deeply the author goes into events surrounding more well known agents, where more information is available.
August 14, 2014
I wish I could have given this book 3.5 stars, as edition I read was in desperate need of editing -- lots of incorrect usage and grammar errors. However, the subject matter and the writer's style pull it up to four stars. Perhaps my library copy was an advanced edition. I found it jarring to be fully engaged in the narrative, only to stumble across an error. The author obviously used "spellcheck", but the editor missed a lot of distracting errors and omissions.
The Grand Prix Saboteurs focuses on a group of Grand Prix racers who -- following the start of World War II and the surrender of France -- joined the resistance movement against Nazi occupation. I did not know much about the French resistance, but now have nothing but respect for their efforts under what must have been terrifying conditions. Some of the information in this book will haunt me, since -- with the benefit of hindsight -- one can only read with dread about what these folks risked and sacrificed. Today, we know what awaited collaborators: a Nazi concentration camp.
I look forward to reading other motorsports-related works by Joe Saward, including "Brock and Moffat on the Road to Spa". I already own a copy of Saward's "The World Atlas of Motor Racing", which is a beautiful coffee table book filled with illustrations of past and current race tracks from around the world. The only flaw to that book is the lack of a second edition following the recent construction of new tracks.
The Grand Prix Saboteurs focuses on a group of Grand Prix racers who -- following the start of World War II and the surrender of France -- joined the resistance movement against Nazi occupation. I did not know much about the French resistance, but now have nothing but respect for their efforts under what must have been terrifying conditions. Some of the information in this book will haunt me, since -- with the benefit of hindsight -- one can only read with dread about what these folks risked and sacrificed. Today, we know what awaited collaborators: a Nazi concentration camp.
I look forward to reading other motorsports-related works by Joe Saward, including "Brock and Moffat on the Road to Spa". I already own a copy of Saward's "The World Atlas of Motor Racing", which is a beautiful coffee table book filled with illustrations of past and current race tracks from around the world. The only flaw to that book is the lack of a second edition following the recent construction of new tracks.
January 14, 2016
After the first chapter I found myself overwhelmed by all the names and dates. Not having any knowledge of Formula 1 pre-80s I couldn't take in the fast paced history lesson.
It's fascinating when it gets into the war effort though. It's so hard to comprehend what those people went through. Films tend to make it seem simple and it isn't until you study individuals you appreciate the heroism against impossible odds.
By focusing on the two racing drivers the author manages to convey the resistance during the war in a much more realistic and therefore emotional way, covering the whole period with great detail. Joe Saward has thoroughly researched his material and written a first-rate book of the SOE.
It's fascinating when it gets into the war effort though. It's so hard to comprehend what those people went through. Films tend to make it seem simple and it isn't until you study individuals you appreciate the heroism against impossible odds.
By focusing on the two racing drivers the author manages to convey the resistance during the war in a much more realistic and therefore emotional way, covering the whole period with great detail. Joe Saward has thoroughly researched his material and written a first-rate book of the SOE.
April 21, 2013
Excellent book. Very interesting little known story about pre-war race car drivers who became members of the SOE and went into France during WWII to organize resistance and fight the Germans. Most of them did not come back.
Amazingly many of these warriors did not get any medals or recognition because they had died. Apparently there was some British rule, I guess for civilians, to get a medal you had to be alive. So many never received their due.
Well written and easy to read.
Amazingly many of these warriors did not get any medals or recognition because they had died. Apparently there was some British rule, I guess for civilians, to get a medal you had to be alive. So many never received their due.
Well written and easy to read.
May 14, 2015
It contains an annoying amount of typos and the first four chapters make you think 'where is this going?', but when the story hits 1939 it truly gets started. It is hard to believe that all the things described truly happened. The book is a stark reminder of why we may never forget the cruelties and crimes of World War II.
July 27, 2016
Written in the every-damn-detail-I've-researched style. Very dense. Not any storytelling to speak of. Probably if it was mostly about the motor-racing I could still cope, but I'm not that interested in the Special Operations Executive.
Spectacular fail with the cover - thanks for the massive swastika guys!
Spectacular fail with the cover - thanks for the massive swastika guys!
March 16, 2009
Very interesting story about the early days of Formula 1 and WWII espionage. However, the book was very poorly written, the grammar was appalling. I've heard they've re-edited it for later printing editions. Sadly, I read the first edition and was unimpressed.
May 16, 2012
There's not much to add to the elaborate review of Patrick Down. However, I am obviously just enough of an enthusiast to have fought through the plethora of names places and plots with a moderate effort and found the book interesting from page one all the way to the end.
November 24, 2009
Interesting account and I would not have known about this part of WW2 history.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews