New Book Review: Enzo Ferrari by Luca Dal Monte

As the tifosi wonder whether Ferrari’s promising easy season form is going to fizzle out like 2022, what would old school Enzo Ferrari have done?

There have been several biographies of the great Enzo Ferrari and even a recent Apple+ movie directed by Michael Mann. The notable ones seem to have been Brock Yates’ “Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races and the Machines” and Richard Williams’ “Enzo Ferrari: A Life”. I’ve not read either one due to my preference for autobiographies – Enzo’s own books such as “The Enzo Ferrari Memoirs: My Terrible Joys” and “Piloti..che gente” are both excellent reads.

Luca Dal Monte has authored the newest biography “Enzo Ferrari: The Definitive Biography of an Icon”. This paperback is the English imprint of the original Italian biography by the author.

Having not read any of the other biographies, I can’t really comment on how this compares to others.  Dal Monte’s biography appears to be heavily researched and narrated in detail.  Just the bibliography is over 50 pages. The book itself is over 500 pages and in very small font with narrow spacing – you’ll definitely need several reading sessions to get through the book.

According to the publisher’s own synopsis, Dal Monte’s book does cover some new ground including Enzo’s failed business ventures, political dealings, faith and personal relationships. 

While Dal Monte does delve into Enzo’ personal life with first wife Laura and his other relationship with Lina Lardi, much of the book’s focus is on races (Mille Miglia, GPs) during each season and Enzo’s relationship with big name drivers through his career including Ascari, Nuvolari, Varzi. The first 250 pages of the book covers Enzo’s childhood up to the 1955 season.

A selection of 58 black & white and colour thumbnail photos (from the Giorgio Nada Editore archives itself) are included in 2 colour plate sections of the book. I have to say the photo reproductions are excellent for a softcover book.

This biography is very much a historical narration of Enzo’s career particularly races. If you’re looking for a book on Enzo’s personal life or his off track business dealings rather than recounting races with Alfa Romeo and Ferrari race cars, then this may not be the book for you. If you’re new to Grand Prix history and Ferrari, then this is a good all round book to start with.

If you really want to learn more about Enzo Ferrari though, I’d recommend reading his own books, alongside a biography like Luca Dal Monte’s or Brock Yates’ books.

Wow Factor/Money shot: early career and pre-1965 photos from Giorgio Nada Editore archives

Suitable for: F1 history fans and tifosi