The Story behind the Book
Between Two Worlds
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How does an Irish writer come to write a book about two Siamese Princes? In author Bob Montgomery's case it was the purchase of 'Bits and Pieces, a book by 'B.Bira' at an early Autosport Racing Car Show in London. That purchase led to a lifelong interest in motorsport books and a fascination with the racing activities of 'B.Bira' and his 'cousin', Prince Chula. 'Bits and Pieces' became the start of a motor racing library that has come to hold well over 2,000 books, but the lives of Prince Chula and Bira remained central to Bob's interest and in the years that followed, his interest in their racing activities, and later in their entire lives, continued to grow. Bob became aware that the intellectual Chula had penned many books other than his accounts of the racing seasons of the White Mouse Stable and that Bira developed an interest in aviation and sailing in addition to his motor racing in the years following the Second World War.
Over the years, as Bob says, ' the story of the two Princes had run like a blue tread through my book collection as I pieced together the tale of their motor racing exploits - mainly through the books that Chula wrote about Bira's motor racing seasons - all motor racing classics in their own right.'
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After Bira's retirement from motor racing in 1955, there was little about either of the Princes , but Bob did learn that Bira had died at the end of 1985, although the circumstances were not clear. Bob takes up the story again, 'One memorable Monday I was in London for a business meeting and took the opportunity to visit Chater's wonderful motoring bookshop in Isleworth to purchase the recently published 'The Prince and I' by Bira's first wife, Ceril. Continuing my journey on the London tube I found the answer at the end of the book 'B.Bira' had died of a massive heart attack on the platform of Baron's Court railway station. Just as I was absorbing this information, I glanced up and was startled to see that my train was resting in Baron's Court Station!'
There was, of course, much more to both Bira and Chula's lives than motor racing. As an example, Bira's gliding exploits are today only remembered by a few dedicated flying enthusiasts but they deserve to be better known - something Bob has tried to correct in this book - as with his sailing and Olympic adventures. Bira is today perhaps better remembered in Britain but deserves better in his homeland where he was undoubtedly Siam's greatest athlete and sportsman and at one time it's most famous citizen apart from his friend, King Rama IX. Chula played many roles but perhaps his greatest achievement was to give confidence to a nation seeking to establish its own way, and to demonstrate through his books about the racing seasons that the Siamese nation could take on and beat the west in the most technical and westernised of all sports. In doing so and telling it's story to the Siamese people he provided an essential stepping stone to the independent and unique future of modern Thailand.
​During his research for this book, Bob travelled several times to Thailand, where he discovered Bira's only living son, 'Bird', who is a successful international sailor and whose son, Bira's grandson, already holds several international titles in world sailing. Lieutenant Colonel MR Biranubongse Bhanubandh was kind enough to write the foreword for Bob's unusual and quite fascinating book.