Detailed Yet Approachable History of Historic And Even Monumental Event That Is Virtually Unknown. This is exactly the kind of detailed history relying on personal investigation using archived newspapers and similar materials you would expect from an investigative journalist of prior eras. Filled with exactingly precise details and dispelling many myths that arose from both culture and corporate propaganda, this is the kind of history that needs to be written about far more subjects, particularly unknown topics such as this that really did come to shape so much of American culture.
Specifically, a rising yet nowhere near as prominent as he would become Henry Ford and the lengths he went to in order to claim victory in the very first true intercontinental automobile race from New York to Seattle, in an era when most highways were proto-asphalt (macadam) at best and just as likely to be true dirt roads – decades before the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways that moves literally tens of millions of Americans daily, particularly on holiday weekends such as the beginning of Memorial Day weekend as I write this review.
Told in a style reminiscent of both historian and race announcer, this tale is an engaging look at an event that even I had never heard of before, and I’ve literally won an award (long ago) for my knowledge of American history. (No, not just trivia night at a bar. An actual academic award.) Moskowitz does a truly great job of detailing the event and brief yet relevant biographies of the key people within it, and the almost “Return Of The King” epilogue (nowhere *near* that long) does a great job ala a Fallout game of coming back to each of the key players and detailing what happened in their lives after this race.
Oh, and it has a decent bibliography, clocking in at 17% or so – and it is made crystal clear that a more detailed bibliography, citing every individual article found and referenced, would be much, much longer.
Anyone interested in American history of the 2oth century at all, particularly those looking for the lesser known tales outside of the various wars, should absolutely look to this very well done tale.
Very much recommended.
This review of The Hardest Longest Race by Eric Moskowitz was originally written on May 22, 2026.
