In the 1930s, as the world hurtled towards terrible global conflict, speed was all the rage. It was referred to by Aldous Huxley as ‘the one really modern pleasure’, and one of the fastest and most thrilling ways to attain it had been through the new sport of bobsledding. Spectacular, exciting and above all dangerous, it had been the most popular event at the Lake Placid Wintertime Olympics. It needed an abundance of skill and bravery. And the four guys who triumphed at those Games lived one of the most about Rate Kings: The Fastest Men in the Globe as well as the 1932 Wintertime Olympics amazing lives.

Billy Fiske was an infamous daredevil, blessed with a natural talent for driving. He’d later end up being the initial American airman to perish in the war – soaring for the RAF. Clifford Gray was a notorious playboy and a new player on both Broadway and Hollywood. Or was he? His identification was a mystery for decades. Jay O’Brien was a gambler and a rogue who, relating to 1 ex-wife, forced ladies to marry him at gunpoint. And Eddie Eagan, a heavyweight boxer and outstanding lawyer, continues to be the only man to win precious metal at both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

This is their story, of loose living, risk-taking and hell-raising in a day and time of decadence, and of their race against the chances to be the fastest men on ice. We will never see their like once again. Especially after the world do descend into that second, terrible global conflict.

Audiobook recorded from the US version of text.