Biographies
Showing 121–160 of 193 results
Murray Walker: The Last Word
The Farewell Tribute marks Murray Walkers retirement at the end of the 2001 season, and also an end of an era. Hilton, who knows Walker well, brings together a complete picture of his life - on-track and otherwise.
Hilton writes little known facts and great moments of this charismatic racers life. Includes anecdotes from F1 stars and T.V. insiders, and a selection of "Murray-isms".
Murray Walker: The Very Last Word
The Farewell Tribute marks Murray Walkers retirement at the end of the 2001 season, and also an end of an era. Hilton, who knows Walker well, brings together a complete picture of his life - on-track and otherwise.
Hilton writes little known facts and great moments of this charismatic racers life. Includes anecdotes from F1 stars and T.V. insiders, and a selection of "Murray-isms".
Mustang Designer: Edgar Schmued and the P-51
Mustang Designer tells the story of American wartime fighter development, including engines and armaments, as part of a nationwide program of aircraft builders and fliers, focusing on Edgar Schmued, the designer of the Mustang. The P-51 Mustang is widely regarded as the best propeller-driven fighter that ever flew. What many might not realize is that the plane's developer was a German migrant. This book tells of how Schmued created a weapon that would ultimately prove lethal to the aspirations of those who had seized control over his native land.
My Chequered Career Steve Rider: Thirty-Five Years of Televising Motorsport
This is an engrossing, fast-paced read, written by well-known TV sports presenter Steve Rider. Rider's passion for motorsport has stayed with him from his first foray into sports reporting in 1978 for Anglia TV, through his time as one of the BBC's leading sports presenters and highly successful spells anchoring Formula 1 coverage for both the BBC and ITV. With plenty of page-turning appeal, Rider takes us through numerous illuminating experiences both on track and in the studio, recounting insightful and often amusing stories about the true greats he has encountered - from Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell to Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
My Life Full of Cars: Behind the Wheel with the World’s Top Motoring Journalist
Paul Frere is one of the most respected automotive journalists in the world today and the only person to have successfully pursued simultaneous careers as a professional driver and motorsport journalist. In this fascinating autobiography, Frere draws on his archives of extraordinary notes to relate technical details of the cars he has driven and personal anecdotes from his careers. Key content includes: the family's first car, a Fiat 501, and perilous journeys on French roads ravaged by World War I; his first car, a 2LTS Ballot; his race debut at Spa 24 Hours; experiences driving Formula 1 cars for HW Motors, Equipe Gordini, and Ferrari in the 1950s; his second-place finish in the 1956 Belgian Grand Prix after only ten practice laps in a car he had never driven; winning Le Mans in 1960; and helping Japanese manufacturers design and test cars to suit European tastes.
Nigel Mansell Driver Profile #1
David Tremayne Hardcover 112 pages Out of Print. New old stock.
Niki Lauda Driver Profile #2
Alan Henry Hardcover 112 pages Out of Print. New old stock.
Ordinary Heros
An eloquent collection of stories of over forty Canadian heroes of World War Two. All were ordinary men and women before volunteering to serve, and each reveals in their own way a gallantry, courage and perserverance that Canadians will take pride in. Includes black and white illustrations.
Press on: Further Adventures in the Good Life
An intriguing portrait of the life of a rugged individualist covers everything from flying stunts and tales of travel to fishing advice, family stories, and a live-for-the moment philosophy
Pure Chance: Memoirs of Dame Felicity Peake First Director Woman’s Royal Air Force
A good read for WWII history buffs, or students of women in the military. Unlike in the US, British women were obligated to serve their country one way or the other in the war. Felicity was of the gentry and had a pilot's license, so it was more or less inevitable that she would end up as an officer in the WAAF. Indeed, by 1946 she headed the organization.
Part of the fun from this book is that it illustrates how chummy people in the upper classes were in the UK. And the title was a deliberate choice by Peake, to emphasize how she just stumbled into things, even though she was diligent at any particular job.
Peak was portrayed (sort of) in the 1969 movie "Battle of Britain" by Susannah York, though Peak's love life was completely different than what was shown in the movie!
Quando corre Nuvolari …
Tazio Nuvolari hardly needs an introduction; his exploits and racing prowess have become legend throughout the world. In his homeland of Italy, his name is a national icon. His fame reflected in everything from songs to the use of his name to symbolize every kind of daring and recklessness at the wheel. Valerio Moretti's work comprises first of all the Nuvolari biography, followed by more than 300 race reports and concluding a summary of every machine, two-wheeled and four-wheeled, raced by Tazio. The authors research for this volume has been so deep that he was able to find and include contemporary race reports of almost every race - no matter how small - in which the greatest of all race drivers took part.
Rapid Response: My Inside Story as a Motor Racing Life-Saver
The book begins with a vivid description of Alex Zanardi's crash in Germany in 2001, and from there the author reflects on his career with many tragic, funny, interesting stories. The book also provides an important history of the evolution of motorsport safety. Now available in paperback with an updated final chapter, this is the compelling story of the author's life in motor racing, providing fascinating insight into crashes involving many famous racers and circuits.
Raymond Collishaw and the Black Flight
Ever wondered what it would be like to fly a biplane or triplane in the First World War? Raymond Collishaw and the Black Flight takes you to the Western Front during the Great War. Experience the risks of combat and the many close calls Collishaw had as a pilot, flight commander, and squadron leader. Understand the courage Collishaw and his fellow flyers faced every day they took to the air in their small, light, and very manoeuvrable craft to face the enemy.
As the third-highest-scoring flying ace among British and colonial pilots in the First World War, scoring 60 victories, Collishaw was only surpassed by Billy Bishop and Edward Mannock. This book traces Collishaw's life from humble beginnings in Nanaimo, British Columbia, to victories in the skies over France.
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Real Men Work in the Pits: A Life in NASCAR Racing
Jeff Hammond, one of NASCAR's all-time great crew chiefs, recalls the thrilling moments of his life in racing: starting out as a tire changer for Walter Ballard in 1974 and quickly becoming one of the best jackmen in the business; serving on all three of driver Cale Yarborough's championship seasons; and then taking over as crew chief during the glory days of legendary driver Darrell Waltrip. The stories Hammond tells about his life in NASCAR and the greats he has known are funny and sometimes tragic. He has strong opinions about the current state of the sport and pulls no punches as he offers his insights about the last 30 years when the sport grew so phenomenally from a regional obsession into a national pastime.
Reg Parnell: The Quiet Man Who Helped to Engineer Britain’s Post-War Motor Racing Revolution
A biography of Reg Parnell who, as both a driver and a team manager, had a considerable influence on post-war British motorsport until his premature death in 1964. Parnell's complete career is covered, and the book includes details of letters, papers and contracts.
Reid Railton: Man of Speed
Reid Antony Railton, Cheshire-born automotive engineer par excellence, created an extraordinary range of cars. He rose to renown during the 1930s as chief engineer at Thomson & Taylor, Brooklands-based racing-car builders. There he realised the dreams of that era's top men of speed, including Tim Birkin, Malcolm Campbell, Whitney Straight, John Cobb, Raymond Mays and Goldie Gardner. His great cars powered them all to sensational racing and record-breaking success. This magisterial book, by one of the world's foremost automotive historians, tells Reid Railton's personal and professional story in superb detail and fascinating depth, with special focus on Reid's unique insights--amounting to genius--and technical accomplishments.
Road to Victory: Winston S. Churchill 1941-1945
The Official Biography of Winston Churchill, initiated by Randolph Churchill but completed by Martin Gilbert, is an epic piece of scholarship about a singularly epic life, comprising eight mammoth main text volumes. First editions of the eight main text volumes were published between 1966 and 1988. This seventh volume of the Official Biography covers the seminal events from Pearl Harbor to Victory in Europe, 8 May 1945. This is the period that cemented Churchill's place in history, encompassing his first Premiership and his extraordinary wartime leadership.
Ronnie Peterson: Formula 1 – Super Swede
Nicknamed Super Swede, Ronnie Peterson rose from karts to F3 to become European F2 Champion in 1972, and came closest to winning the F1 World Championship in 1973 and 1978. By common consent the fastest driver in Formula 1 in that era, Ronnie Peterson was, paradoxically, a quiet, shy person and an all-round nice guy. Behind the wheel of a car though, he came alive, deferring to no one in his mission to be the quickest û not even his beautiful companion, Barbro. His fans loved him for it, and everyone admired him, from his F1 peers to team owners and mechanics, many of whom testify to this effect in the following chapters. For that reason, he remains an icon of speed, his prowess recalled whenever an ace from the past is required as a benchmark. As Johnny TipletÆs book reveals, Ronnie invariably strove to wring the ultimate performance out of anything he drove. And that, ironically, was probably what cost him the F1 World Championship. Not content with merely winning, he sought to annihilate the opposition and, in the process, subjected cars and tires to stresses greater than they had been designed to accept. If they didnÆt break, he usually won, but not often enough to gain the title.
Roy D. Chapin: The Man Behind the Hudson Motor Car Company
John Cuthbert Long's Roy D. Chapin is a thorough and detailed biography of a remarkable, but little-known Detroit automobile industry pioneer. Historians should include Roy Dikeman Chapin (February 23, 1880-February 16, 1936) in any listing of significant American auto industry pioneers, along with the Duryea brothers, Ransom E. Olds, Henry Leland, Henry Ford, William C. Durant, and the Dodge brothers. Outside the cloister of automotive historians, Roy Chapin is an unknown. This is in part because no company or car bore his name. Unlike many contemporary auto pioneers, Roy Chapin was a modest man who did not promote himself. Even Long's superb biography of Chapin is not well-known because it was privately printed in 1945 with a small press run. In reprinting this volume, Wayne State University Press is making an important contribution to automotive history.
Rubens Barrichello: In the Wheel Tracks of Senna
When he graduated to Formula 1 in 1993 Rubens Barrichello looked a potential star. By 1996 - still grieving the death of his mentor Ayrton Senna - Rubens seemed a "might have been", struggling with an uncompetitive Jordan. However in 1999, driving for Jackie Stewart, he proved a mature performer and Ferrari beckoned. The Brazilian is a rare mix - tough enough to be Michael Schumacher's fastest-ever team-mate yet so gentle off-track that he is the most popular driver in the paddock. This is his rollercoaster story.
Sam Steele: An Officer and a Gentleman
Had there been no Sam Steele, it has been observed, Hollywood would have had to invent him. Born into the comparative stability of the Victorian era's Pax Britannica, Steele lived to witness the postwar turmoil of the Lost Generation. From humble beginnings in what is now Bracebridge, Ontario, to his knighthood in England two years before his death in 1919, Steele's life epitomized the themes of personal adventure, service to crown and country, and the zeal for modernization and social order that characterized nineteenth-century Canada within the British Empire.
Steele's long and storied career threaded through many pivotal moments in Canada's settlement and development history: the Fenian raids, the expansion of law and order (on horseback and sporting red serge) across the North-West Territories, the exile of Sitting Bull into Canada, the construction of the national railway that welded together the nation, Riel's Rebellion, the Klondike Gold Rush and opening of the North, the Boer War, and Canada's coming of age during the First World War.
Samuel Cunard: Nova Scotia’s Master of the North Atlantic
An illustrated biography of a Canadian who sparked a world transportation revolution.
In North America, the name Cunard is synonymous with shipping. This book traces the entrepreneurial rise of Samuel Cunard who, for decades, ruled a shipping empire on the North Atlantic.
By the time Cunard died in 1865, he had witnessed the emergence of steamships, developed trade links with China and helped establish the Quebec and Halifax Steam Navigation Company. He was a director of the Bank of British North America and bought huge tracts of land in PEI. He won the transatlantic mail service contract between Britain and North America, and built several of the most luxurious steamships of the day. His ships helped Britain in the Crimean War and he became Sir Samuel Cunard for his support of the war effort. The Cunard line which he founded was long a major force in the development of international travel.
This book combines the Cunard story with 150+ colour and black and white visuals covering Cunard's life and the subsequent history of his company. A fascinating and readable account of the brilliance and determination of one man who played an innovative role in world transportation history.
Senna: No Fear. No Limits. No Equal. (Blu-Ray DVD)
Spanning his years as a Formula One race car driver to his untimely death, Senna explores the life and work of this triple world champion and global superstar. Far more than a film for F1 fans, Senna unfolds a remarkable personal story, weaving an unforgettable tale of a modern day hero.
Senna: No Fear. No Limits. No Equal. (DVD)
Spanning his years as a Formula One race car driver to his untimely death, Senna explores the life and work of this triple world champion and global superstar. Far more than a film for Formula 1 fans, Senna unfolds a remarkable personal story, weaving an unforgettable tale of a modern day hero.
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Six Men Who Built the Modern Auto Industry
This is the story of six extraordinary men who redefined and redirected the automotive industry after World War II. The six are: Henry Ford II (visionary autocrat with an iron will); Soichiro Honda (most successful automotive entrepreneur since Henry Ford I); Eberhard von Kuenheim (founder of the modern BMW); Lee Iacocca (father of the Mustang and saviour of Chrysler); Ferdinand Piech (builder of Volkswagen Group), and GM executive Robert Lutz (a driving force at Chrysler, GM and BMW). Six Men is both compelling and easy to read, mixing interesting personal details and the stories of how certain car models were build, while painting a picture of how automakers were revived or built and expanded.
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Special Deluxe: A Memoir of Life and Cars
The iconic rock star's New York Times bestselling follow-up to Waging Heavy Peace that "reads like a great Neil Young song plays." (The Buffalo News) In this acclaimed new memoir, New York Times bestselling author Neil Young has fashioned another extraordinary work of reminiscences told through the lens of one of his deepest passions: cars. A lifelong devotee and collector, Young explores his love for the well-crafted vintage automobile and examines his newfound awareness of his hobby's negative environmental impact. Witty, eclectic, candid, and filled with Young's original artwork, Special Deluxe will appeal to car lovers as well as the legions devoted to one of the most genuine and enigmatic artists of our time.
Steve McQueen: A Biography
A New York Times Bestselling Author -- One of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and '70s with classics like The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair and Bullitt, Steve McQueen is renowned as one of the most exciting and iconic actors to ever come out of Hollywood. Filled with original research, new interviews, and rare photos, this definitive biography of "the King of Cool" includes intimate details of his films, his relationships, and his struggles with addictions.
Steve McQueen: The Actor and His Films
Steve McQueen: The Actor and his Films, is the definitive account of every film that the iconic actor made. This lavishly illustrated book devotes nearly 500 pages to Steve McQueens career and tracks his journey from juvenile delinquent, to Marine, to an aspiring actor breaking into Hollywood, until he became a global superstar and the highest-paid actor of his era. Included are numerous behind the scenes tales of events that occurred leading up to and during filming, and fascinating insights into McQueens acting techniques and motivations.