Which are the best cycling books?

As is often my want, I'm starting with a caveat: I haven't read every single book on cycling so you can read this guide with a pinch of salt.
I have however, knocked off a good few of the books on cycling and have a hit list of others.

I'm not really a fan of the 'authorised biography' genre documenting the highs and dramatic lows of [insert name]'s career.

I always feel they're a bit self-serving and I just shy away from them. That said, I do have the Obree Flying Scotsman on my 'to read' list and thought Tyler Hamilton's The Secret Race was insightful enough to elevate it over the usual standards.

If you can find a copy of Paul Kimmage's Rough Ride, it provides an excellent warts and all view from inside the Peleton in the 80s and 90s which, coincided when I first took an interest in the sport so is especially vivid.

Perhaps less well known is the rather bitter polemic from the likeable former Festina soigneur, Willy Voet Breaking the Chain. Although short - you can knock this off in an afternoon - it shares the first hand realism of Rough Ride and is stark and uncomfortable as a result.

Of course, three of these books are essentially about the recent doping era a category which is not complete without reading David Walsh's From Lance to Landis. 

As I understand it this is pretty much the USADA case against Lance minus the testimony of peers. It all the stuff you've read about in the media: the back-dated scripts, make up over needle marks, shady meetings in car parks - all that stuff. If you've read this one don't bother with Walsh's Seven Deadly Sins as it's the same material.

A Dog in a Hat by former US pro Joe Parkin shares much of the same feelings as Kimmage's Rough Ride but has a much better title. Parkin comes across as a wholesome American kid struggling on in a blue collar Springsteen way. But its more than the cliche suggests. What really comes through is that the excitement and hope drawn from being part of a pro cycling team quickly evaporates into the drudgery of doing a job. A job which happens to involve riding a bike for much of the time.

Rather than the doping culture, this is the really sad theme that comes through for my as my romantic notions are cut off at the knees. Well worth a read.
At the opposite end of the scale is the Death of Marco Pantani by Matt Rendell. I whet my lips when i first picked a copy up in a second hand book shop in town for about 50p. However, trying to read it is as difficult as it would be for me to hold Pantani's wheel up Alpe d'Huez in his pomp. I just found it to be impenetrable and gave up after about four goes and 50 pages. I will try again one day.

William Fotheringham's biog of Merckx Half Man Half Bike is a very nice holiday type book with loads of great stories.  

Other than assorted histories of Le Tour and a few other bits and bobs, that's pretty much my library covered - I know there are many gaps - but as i said earlier, much of the output doesn't really interest me.

But anyway, here's my 'to read' list:

Tomorrow we ride - Louison Bobet
European Cycling - the 20 greatest races
Fallen Angel - Coppi (Fotheringham)
The Hour - Michael Hutchinson
Flying Scotsman - Obree
Escape Artist - Matt Seaton