BOOK REVIEWS
Welcome to my new book reviews page! I mostly read about motorsport, automotive and aviation history. Unless otherwise stated, I buy all my own books, and rarely new, so you’ll often find reviews of older titles here. Having written a book myself, I know how much work goes into getting it finished at all. I admire anyone who's accomplished that feat so I always try to be balanced in my assessment. But if I didn’t enjoy it, I’ll tell you straight!
Ginetta: The Illustrated History by John Rose
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Part of the fun in reading old books is placing the words in the context of what’s happened since. In the case of Ginetta, the modern producer of high-end road and race cars at first glance seems far removed from the cottage industry and kit cars of the late-1950s through to 1983, when this first edition of marque expert John Rose’s history was published.
Read the full review... Ginetta: The Illustrated History by John Rose Foulis/Haynes, 1983. ISBN 0-85429-384-1 Find it on eBay Find it on Amazon |
Rolls-Royce by Leonard Setright
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Rewind to 1971 and we find Leonard or ‘LJK’ at the peak of his powers. Rolls-Royce covers the luxury marque from its origins in the earliest days of motoring, via the glory days of the ‘Best Car in the World’, to the brink of receivership and nationalization. His outspoken, often witty narrative keeps you engaged for all of the modest paperback’s 160 pages.
Read the full review... Rolls-Royce (Ballantine’s Illustrated History of the Car – Marque book No7) by Leonard Setright Ballantine Books, 1971 Find it on eBay Find it on Amazon |
A Life of Chance by Alan Mann & Tony Dron
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Rather like the Beatles, Alan Mann Racing in its original form existed for just a few short years in the 1960s, but its accomplishments were great and its legacy lives on. This book was completed shortly before Mann’s death in 2012 and published soon after.
Read the full review... A Life of Chance: The Story of the Fabulous Racing Fords by Alan Mann in collaboration with Tony Dron Motor Racing Publications, 2012. ISBN 978-1-899870-85-1 Find it on eBay Find it on Amazon |
NASCAR Legends by Robert Edelstein
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Published in 2011, NASCAR Legends charts a course through 50 years of stock-car history via portraits of some of its biggest personalities and most memorable races. From the early 1990s, journalist and author Edelstein spent more than a decade on the NASCAR beat at a time when the sport was at its most popular but also endured tragedies like the deaths of Dale Earnhardt and Adam Petty.
Read the full review... NASCAR Legends by Robert Edelstein Overlook, 2011. ISBN 978-1-59020-184-8 Find it on eBay Find it on Amazon |
Enzo Ferrari by Richard Williams
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In 2011 I had a conversation with the late John Surtees at the Goodwood Revival. He was generous with his time in an unscheduled interview. We mostly talked about his time at Ferrari in the mid-1960s. Among other things, Surtees said, “You have to respect Mr Ferrari for what he created. […] There’s something special about it and there was something special about him, except that by the time I was there, he was too isolated. He’d stopped going to race meetings and was too removed from it, which in turn brought problems.”
Read the full review... Enzo Ferrari, A Life by Richard Williams Yellow Jersey Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-22405-986-2 Find it on eBay Find it on Amazon |
My Chequered Career by Steve Rider
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Steve Rider has been a mainstay of British motorsport broadcasting for more than 40 years. His book My Chequered Career: Thirty-five years of televising motorsport, published in 2012, charts his rise from regional TV, covering Colin Chapman’s Lotus and local stock cars on Anglia Television in the 1970s, to anchorman for national network ITV’s ground-breaking Formula 1 coverage in the 2000s.
Read the full review... My Chequered Career: Thirty-five years of televising motorsport by Steve Rider Haynes, 2012. ISBN 978-0-85733-273-8 Find it on eBay Find it on Amazon |