We all know the story from the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the one about African American runner Jesse Owens outpacing the Aryans. Neal Bascomb found a similar but largely forgotten contest from the same era. In Faster, he recounts the story of French Jewish racecar driver Rene Dreyfus, who defeated Germany in the Grand Prix with the financial assistance of American speed racer Lucy O’Reilly Schell. French automaker Delahaye manufactured the still-futuristic looking vehicle that Dreyfus drove across the finish line ahead of the mighty Mercedes Benz. His victory was a blow to Nazi pride and fortunately, Dreyfus made it to America ahead of the advancing German army in 1940. Bascomb tells the story from material unearthed from archives and 1930s sports magazines.
