Beryl – In Search of Britain’s Greatest Athlete

It's not controversial to say that Beryl Burton was one of the most dominant athletes of all time – of either sex. If you didn't hold that view already, reading Beryl – In Search of Britain's Greatest Athlete should soon convince you. It is also true to say that her achievements rarely received the recognition they deserve – until now, perhaps. Only three years after a previous profile here's another one, although Jeremy Wilson extends the remit of a conventional biography to explore other aspects of Burton's incomparable cycling career.

Last time I wrote a review about a biography of Beryl Burton (which is not something you get to say very often), I questioned why it had taken so long for one to appear; now I am wondering why we have another one already!

The previous book was William Fotheringham's The Greatest, which I said gave 'one of the most dominant cyclists of all time...the biography she deserves.' Wilson is obviously aware of Fotheringham's work, as it is listed in his bibliography, so is there anything to be gained from his one?

There certainly is. Obviously both books have to cover some of the same ground, but each does it in his own style, and focuses on different things.

As an example, at 15 pages Wilson devotes three times as much space to Burton's only 24-hour time trial as Fotheringham, who in turn wrote twice as much about it as Burton did in her autobiography, Personal Best. Having previously also beaten the men's record while setting the women's record in a 12-hour time trial, Burton was attempting the same unparalleled feat in a 24-hour event. While the former is probably her career-defining result, the latter ended in failure – yet it was just as interesting and was worth every page.

In my previous review I also mentioned that it's always hard to compare performances across different eras; however, in a prime example of what makes this book so different to a more conventional biography, Wilson has actually done exactly that.

It's a highlight of the book for me, and could make it a definitive reference work in future debates. In a self-explanatory chapter called Just how fast was she?, Wilson goes to a wind tunnel and measures the performance of a rider using Burton's original equipment and riding position, and then compares this with the same rider using everything from the modern era.

It was not a surprise to discover that Burton would go considerably faster with today's kit, but the real benefit of the test is to predict with considerable confidence that she would still hold the women's record for every standard distance – except for one, the 10-mile time trial. Even then her record stood for 43 years at this very popular distance.

Bear in mind that this only covers those aspects that could be measured reliably: Burton didn't benefit from the advances in other areas that help today's riders, such as training and nutrition. In addition, 'course conditions, notably road surfaces and traffic, throw up further possible advantages that can never be precisely measured'.

Wilson concludes that, 'Technology has progressed beyond the records that Beryl Burton set. Other athletes...have not.' Many people will have suspected as much, and here is the proof.

Just as Fotheringham was impressively thorough with his research, so was Wilson – and he even managed to access some 'previously unseen correspondence and photographs'.

Both authors have input from family members, friends, and fellow competitors, as you would expect – and the obligatory cycling dignitaries such as Bradley Wiggins and Chris Boardman are referenced. Wilson springs a few surprises beyond that, with Geoffrey Boycott making an appearance in support of all things Yorkshire – and (presumably drawing on Wilson's main job as the chief sports reporter for the Daily Telegraph), jockey AP McCoy adds comment.

Similarly, there is some explanation of life behind the Iron Curtain, and how 'an ingrained doping system inside Russia' is likely to have 'unfairly denied [Burton] further world titles'. It's not just about Burton, but also about the era in which she was operating.

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There is one other notable difference between the two books: Fotheringham's is self-published, which can restrict availability – although by involving Amazon that will now be less of an issue. Wilson takes the more traditional route, using a major publisher, with the associated improvements in marketing and distribution.

In my view there is enough difference between both books to make a case for each – or even all three if you include Burton's autobiography. Whether that is enough to persuade anyone to own more than one of them is less certain, except perhaps for the most fervent fan.

Verdict

An unexpectedly welcome addition to the BB story, helping to raise awareness of her achievements – again