The book was published on 2 October 2025, and had its first reprint in December, just in time for Christmas.
Jottings
OTD 1912
Outside on the streets of New York, horseless carriages were vying for supremacy over horse-drawn buggies. Inside the five-storey townhouse on East 67th Street, near the corner with Madison Avenue, Dr Cragin’s attempts to induce the baby had failed. It was clear now that the expectant parents would not get their wish – their first child would not be born on election day.
Publication Day, 2 October 2025
The hardback and Kindle versions of the book were published this morning. The occasion was marked with fizz and fillet steak chez nous, while The History Press published this thought-provoking Q&A we’d worked on recently. Read on…
OTD 1926
On 26 September 1926, Dartington Hall School opened its doors. Its initial intake of nine children comprised Whitney, his sister Beatrice and brother Michael, the son of the man planting Dartington’s apple orchard and five children collected that morning from Totnes railway station.
On 26 August 1934, while Whitney was racing to third place in the Comminges Grand Prix, teammate Hugh ‘Hammy’ Hamilton was in Bern, participating in the inaugural Swiss Grand Prix, held at a 4.5-mile circuit in the forest of Bremgarten, to the north of the city.OTD 1935, part 1
On 17 July 1935, Whitney married Lady Daphne Finch Hatton at St Margaret’s,Westminster.
Daphne wore a striking dress of heavy silver lamé with long train, and a head dress fashioned in the shape of a crusader’s camail from silver net sewn with orange blossom. Much like his biographer 54 years later, Whitney was clad in black frock coat, grey trousers, pale waistcoat, wing collars and cravat.
OTD 1935, part 2
One guest at Whitney and Daphne’s wedding had just quit a career as a banker to try stockbroking.
On 2 April 1934, at the start of only his second full season, Whitney raced in Easter Monday’s Monaco GP.Meet the narrator – Simon Vance
No sooner have I handed the completed manuscript over to audio book publishers Blackstone than I’m delighted to say they’ve appointed Simon Vance to narrate it.
OTD 1932
On 28 February 1932, Whitney took part in in his first overseas race, the Swedish Winter Grand Prix, over an extraordinary course comprising a twisty 1.2 miles on the frozen Lake Rämen, followed by 27 miles of narrow forest roads. He was still just 19, and had only previously competed at the Shelsley Walsh hill climb – one car at time – and raced on the sands at Southport and the ‘vast concrete prairies’ of Brooklands, where there was plenty of space for overtaking. This was his first outing in a potent Grand Prix car, the 26M Maserati he had recently purchased from Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin.