In 1968, the Sunday Times "organised" the Golden Globe race - an ambitious test of endurance never before attempted - a round the world yacht race that had to be completed single-handed and non-stop.

This remarkable challenge inspired the daring to enter - with or without sailing experience. On the 40th anniversary, A Race Too Far charts the chaotic unfolding of the Golden Globe.

Nine brave men set out. Within weeks, several were running for shelter. Others pushed on. Chay Blyth, fresh from rowing the Atlantic, had no sailing experience and was making it up as he went along. Nigel Tetley sank whilst in the lead with only 1,100 nautical miles to go, surviving but dying in tragic circumstances two years later. Donald Crowhurst tried to fake his round the world voyage and began showing signs of mental illness. His boat was discovered adrift with no one on board. Bernard Moitessier abandoned the race whilst in a strong position and carried on to Tahiti, where he settled and fathered a child by a local woman despite having a wife and family in Paris. Only one sailor finished: the young Englishman Robin Knox-Johnston.

In this most legendary of modern stories of men pitting themselves against the sea, Chris Eakin recreates the drama of the epic race forty years on. He talks to all those touched by the tragedies surrounding the Golden Globe: the survivors, the widows and the children of those who died. The book evokes the wonder of the adventure itself and reflects on what it has come to mean to both those involved and the rest of us in the forty years since.