Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride

Peter Zheutlin's thoroughly researched account will make you wish you'd been around to catch a glimpse of the extraordinary woman as she went wheeling by. —Bill Littlefield, National Public Radio's Only A Game

Until 1894 there were no female sport stars, no product endorsement deals, and no young mothers with the chutzpah to circle the globe on a bicycle. Annie Londonderry changed all of that.

When Annie left Boston in June of that year, she was a brash young lady with a 42-pound…