Just recently released by Haynes Publishing of Somerset, England, this excellent publication is by far one of the best pieces of research and documentation of Alfa’s successes and eventual demise in Grand Prix and Formula One Racing. It is written by David Venables, formerly the Official Solicitor and now the Assistant Editor of the Vintage Sports Car Club Bulletin, and the author of Napier: The First to Wear the Green and The Racing 1500’s. He also competes throughout England in Vintage Car Events with his Frazier Nash and a Fiat.

The book is the full Grand Prix and Formula One history of Alfa Romeo, from the building of the Durracq cars in Italy that led to the founding of Alfa in 1910, through the golden years of Vittorio Jano designs and the immortal "158", to the withdrawal from racing after Juan Manuel Fangio clinched the 1951 World Championship in a "159". It then continues on to document Alfa’s unsuccessful return to Formula One in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Lavishly illustrated with many nostalgic color and B&W photographs, First Among Champions also chronicles Alfa Romeo’s drivers, cars, and results. It is obviously meticulously researched, drawing on factory records and eyewitness accounts from the men who built and raced engineering masterpieces. It also underlines what a major role Enzo Ferrari played both in the team’s domination of the sport in the first half of the 20th Century and then as its main competitor.

The book also does a great job of intertwining, along with the cars and the races, the personalities of the designers, drivers, and the long suffering mechanics. It concludes by providing in-depth information about Alfa’s return to Grad Prix Racing by supplying engines to McLaren and Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham Team, along with its ill-fated attempt to build a new generation of Alfa Romeo Formula One cars during the late 70’s and early 80’s.

No matter what model Alfa you may hold a fondness and/or attachment for, all Alfisti have to have, somewhere deep down inside, a built-in love and pride for the past success and racing history of one of the world’s finest and most-loved marques. So while you may have an Alfa book or two laying around the den or office somewhere, probably dealing with the Alfa model that is the love of your life and how to fix it, here is finally the book that all true Alfa lovers must have and put out on display on the coffee table, or on a small easel, for one and all to see; and then just let them drool!