Brooklands - The Complete Motor Racing History

Language: English

Published by Motor Racing Publications Ltd, 2001

1899870563 / 9781899870561

  • Hardcover
  • Used
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Seller: Crappy Old Books, Barry, United KingdomCrappy Old Books

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Hardcover

Condition: Used - Near fine

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Forget your carbon-fibre hypercars, telemetry, DRS, tyre strategy apps and drivers who spend half the race apologising over the radio. Before all that there was Brooklands ? a vast concrete bowl where men with spectacular moustaches and an apparently casual attitude towards self-preservation attempted to discover exactly how fast machinery, physics and common sense could be persuaded to travel before parting company. William Boddy wasn?t merely writing about Brooklands; he practically lived there. Having first fallen under its spell as a boy in the 1920s, he devoted decades to preserving its history, eventually producing what is widely regarded as the definitive account of the world?s first purpose-built motor racing circuit. This substantial 480-page volume charts everything from the circuit?s creation in 1907 through its golden years of record-breaking, Grand Prix racing and engineering innovation, before the outbreak of the Second World War brought competitive racing at Brooklands to an abrupt halt. What makes this book so remarkable is that it isn?t simply a catalogue of races and lap times. It is a love letter to an era when drivers routinely climbed into machines that looked as though they?d been assembled from girders, brass plumbing and optimism, then accelerated towards concrete banking with little more than a leather helmet and the comforting thought that "it?ll probably be fine." The cast of pioneering engineers, fearless racers, eccentric inventors and wealthy enthusiasts reads like Britain?s answer to the Wild West?only with considerably more oil leaks. The research is astonishing. Boddy knew many of the personalities involved personally, spent decades gathering photographs, programmes, technical records and first-hand accounts, and stitches them together into an absorbing narrative that captures both the excitement and sheer improbability of early motor racing. Whether your interest lies in vintage Bentleys, Napier monsters, aero-engined specials or simply the extraordinary people who believed 120mph on rough concrete was a splendid afternoon?s entertainment, there?s something here to delight. Of course, this is not the sort of book one casually flicks through while waiting for the kettle to boil. It is wonderfully, gloriously obsessive. Every race, record, machine and memorable incident receives the attention it deserves, making this a volume that rewards dipping into repeatedly?or disappearing with for an entire rainy weekend while muttering things like, "Good heavens, they really did that." Condition: Good. The book remains in pleasing, fully readable condition with the expected signs of a previous life. It has already survived over a century?s worth of motoring history, numerous enthusiastic owners and, presumably, the temptation to take the racing line through the living room. It is now patiently waiting for the next custodian who appreciates that speed may be fleeting, but a really good motoring history is built to last.

Seller Inventory # 6756

Title
Brooklands - The Complete Motor Racing History
Author
William Boddy
Publisher
Motor Racing Publications Ltd
Publication year
2001
Condition
Near Fine
Binding
Hardback
Language
English
ISBN 10
1899870563
ISBN 13
9781899870561

Crappy Old Books

Barry, United Kingdom

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since February 6, 2025

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Crappy Old Books aims to be the online version of our much endangered high street second hand book stores. Here you will find all sorts of junk that you just couldnt imagine. Crappy Old Books also aims to provide all of these books at great rates. The site was concieved on Monday 23rd Novemeber 2009, and is slowly growing. Hopefully over years it'll have much more to offer and will be a joy to browse through, just like our musty second hand book stores of yore.

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