The Secret Years: Flight Testing at Boscombe Down 1939–1945

by Tim Mason

Everything the Royal Navy, Army, and Air Force was supposed to put in the air needed to be tested first. Written by a test pilot of a later era, this book describes this once highly classified work.

Towering Mirrors, Mirroring Towers: Photographs of Urban Reflections

by David Weinberg

As a reader you know that you can read a word even if some its letters are missing. Can you “read” a building too if some of its parts are missing?

Occupant Protection and Automobile Safety in the U.S. since 1900

by Roger F. Wells

No need to obsess about it but every time you strap your car on, a lot can go wrong. From bumpers to highway signage to self-driving cars this book explains what keeps you safe.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

by Robin Jones

His career reads like fiction. A 2002 BBC poll voted him no. 2 of the “100 Greatest Britons”—143 years after his death! No “15 minutes of fame” for this fellow, but have you heard of him?

Fiat 500: The Autobiography

by Lorenzo Ardizio

A small book about a small car—both of which are packed with pleasant surprises and clever touches.

Me and My MG: Stories from MG Owners Around the World

by Gordon Thorburn

On the surface, this is a book about MG cars and their owners. But it is also about a type of car that embodies a type of technology the author finds more satisfying than modern gizmos.

Bullfight: The Pas de Deux

by Ricardo B. Sanchez

This book is about art, photography, things unseen, thoughts unthought, managing fear, and, oh, bulls. You’ll be surprised . . .

The Custom Road Bike

by Guy Andrews

Whether you want to upgrade or start from scratch—or just want to know what the various bits do—this book explains the inner workings of seven key components.

Politicians, the Press, and Propaganda: Lord Northcliffe and the Great War, 1914–1919

by J. Lee Thompson

Think of this WW I-era press baron as a British version of Citizen Kane. He used both his personal interests and his political machinations—and his money—to champion early automobility and aviation.

American Flying Boats and Amphibious Aircraft

by E.R. Johnson

Concrete runways are expensive, water is free. Enter, the seaplane. From tiny leisure craft to gargantuan people hauler, Americans built a lot of them. Seemed like an idea with a future. Apparently not.

Senna

directed by Asif Kapadia

F1 fan or not, anyone who likes a big story well told ought to watch this documentary of a supremely skilled, courageous, enigmatic, controversial race driver who paid the ultimate price for doing what he felt he was put on this Earth to do.