Heroes of the Forest

Heroes of the Forest: The Complete History of the Pebble Beach Road Race

By Mark R. Brinker, MarkRoberts Publishing LLC, August 2026, $495

This is one of those automotive books where the scale of the project becomes apparent almost immediately. SCM Contributor Mark R. Brinker, whose previous books include the award-winning A Quiet Greatness and The Amazing Denzel Sports Car, originally envisioned a single volume of perhaps 400 pages. “I never imagined this,” he says of the finished work, which grew to nearly 1,750 pages across four volumes. The set is a veritable porch-crusher, weighing some 40 pounds.

The project expanded as Brinker realized that telling the story properly meant looking beyond the races themselves. The drivers, entrants, cars, organizers and the developing American sports-car industry all demanded attention. What surprised Brinker most when he dug in was how Pebble Beach was a launching pad for so many drivers and, consequently, “the enormous impact it had on motorsports in America.”

There were other unexpected discoveries. Brinker found that automobile racing at Pebble Beach predated the famous post-war events by nearly half a century, with races held at the Hotel Del Monte from 1903 through 1907. Those early events ended following a racing fatality, a parallel to the end of the Pebble Beach Road Races after Ernie McAfee’s fatal crash in 1956.

The four-volume organization makes this vast amount of material easy to navigate. Volume One establishes the background, origins, courses and regulations. Volume Two focuses on the people, including Phil Hill, Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby. Volume Three tackles the cars, while Volume Four reconstructs the events held from 1950 through 1956.

The depth of research is extraordinary. Brinker was determined to identify as many chassis numbers as possible, an immense project in itself. Establishing complete finishing orders was another challenge, as period sources sometimes conflicted. Considering the size of the work, it is amusing that editing everything “down to a semi-manageable size” also proved difficult.

Period photography is another major strength of the book. The Julian P. Graham collection was central to the project, while the Revs Institute supplied more than 500 images. Photographer Allen R. Kuhn and other sources strengthen an exceptional visual record.

Perhaps the most unusual feature appears in Volume Four, where QR codes allow readers to watch archival footage of many of the original races. As Brinker puts it, “A written description is one thing,” but watching actual Pebble Beach race footage from the 1950s is something very special.

Despite its size, the set never feels unwieldy. It rewards casual browsing as much as serious research, and it is easy to lose an hour following a driver, car or race from one volume into another.

The production quality is equally impressive. Fit and finish are exemplary, with sharp image reproduction, substantial paper, clean typography and thoughtful layout. At $495, the set is certainly not inexpensive, but considering everything included, the price seems quite reasonable for what is being offered. This is a remarkably detailed account of a formative chapter in American sports-car racing, and immensely enjoyable to explore. Brinker may have set out to write a 400-page book; what resulted feels much closer to the definitive record.

Heroes of the Forest will be issued solely as a limited edition of 1,000 signed and numbered copies, available at heroesoftheforestbook.com.