Archive for Author 'Tom King', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

The Wilson Preselector Gearbox, Armstrong Siddeley-Type

by Peter “Banjo” Meyer

It’s all in the name: preselecting allows you to call up the next gear, usually with the transmission remaining in the current gear until you press the “gear change pedal,” thereby obviating the need to master timing clutch to shift lever. It’s complicated. This book explains all.

“Sam” – Marshal of the Royal Air Force the Lord Elworthy

by Richard Mead

KG, GCB, CBE, DSO, LVO, DFC, AFC, MA—this letter salad bespeaks a highly decorated life. It is only fitting that a biography of this distinguished officer should appear during the RAF’s Centenary year.

Searching for Charlie, In Pursuit of the Real Charles Upham VC & Bar

by Tom Scott

It could be the stuff movies are made of. In fact, two screenplays exist. The protagonist is the only combat soldier ever to win the Victoria Cross twice, and his bravery in World War II probably deserved several more. This book puts the source of his courage and daring into context.

Not Much of an Engineer, An Autobiography

by Sir Stanley Hooker

Gravely ill, this highly acclaimed aero engine engineer managed to stay alive just long enough to finish his autobiography. A modest man, he would have been embarrassed by the praise his eulogists bestowed on him.

The Other Bentley Boys

by Elizabeth Nagle-Turnbull

To this day we think of the storied drivers by that name but it is the “other” Bentley Boys—the mechanics—who first called themselves that.

Driven, An Elegy to Cars, Roads and Motorsport

by John Aston

This is a book for an unhurried moment when you have the time to roll words around in your head. If your interest is motorsports and the people and places that give it color, all the better but that’s not all you’ll find here.

Inside the Rolls-Royce & Bentley Styling Department 1971 to 2001

by Graham Hull

Due to their unique place high up on the foodchain, these marques have rather unusual design parameters. Their monied customers’ demand for a recognizably traditional look are difficult to reconcile with modern, even forward-looking design trends. A long overdue book.

Fly and Deliver, A Ferry Pilot’s Log Book

by Hugh Bergel

Ferry pilots deliver planes—military, civilian, private. It’s an interesting career or sideline, even today, and a great way to build flight time and get your hands on the controls of many different types.

“I Would Not Step Back . . .” Phil Lamason

by Hilary Pedersen and others

More than a just another war story, this book explains what made a quiet, humble man a leader even his enemies could not ignore.

Take Five, the Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond

by Doug Ramsey

A serious, thoughtful biography of a jazz saxophonist by a jazz critic and musician who knew his subject personally. This spells real insight, and, in fact, this book ought to be a model to all biographers.

Riley Sports Cars 1926–1938

by Graham Robson

As so many other British makes, afflicted as they were of a singularly Britsh way of executing industrial policy, Riley had a complicated history. This book isn’t helping, not even in regards to the small sports car segment it focuses on.

Enzo Ferrari’s Secret War

by David Manton

No, this is not about Ferrari’s “war” on the race track with Ford but his much lesser-known actions during World War II vis-à-vis the Germans. If you ever wondered why Enzo had a soft spot for New Zealanders, this book has an answer—one that reads like fiction but aparently is not.

Newer Entries »
« Older Entries