Archive for Items Categorized 'History', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Spitfire Manual
 1940

by Dilip Sarkar (Editor)

From the “Forget-Me-Nots for Fighters” to many other instructional booklets and manuals for pilots of the famous Supermarine Spitfire, this book gathers many oddities not normally seen by outsiders.

A Technical & Operational
 History of the Liberty Engine: Tanks, Ships and Aircraft 1917–1960

by Robert J. Neal

One of history’s most famous engines, and very possibly the one with the longest active military service life, the Liberty represents an ambitious and visionary solution to what could have become an intractable problem: too much creativity resulting in too much incompatibility.

Automotive Trade Journal

Its purpose is in the name: a magazine to the auto trade covering news and topics such as manufacture, maintenance, and sales. 1931 is a pivotal year as Germany’s economy collapsed that summer and the Great Depression is becoming entrenched.

William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency, 1909–1913  

by Michael L. Bromley

Impressively documented re-appraisal of oft-maligned president, with special emphasis on autos. At an important early stage, Taft, in the face of opposition, articulated a national interest in the auto industry and the social advances of widespread motorization.

It’s A Gas! The Allure of the Gas Station

Texts by Sascha Friesike

This book has been out for several years already so you may have seen reviews of it. Ignore. None of them used the right rotation in their kaleidoscope.

Pink Cars and Pocketbooks, How American Women Bought Their Way into the Driver’s Seat  

by Jessica A. Brockmole

Did automotive advertisers really ignore women from the beginning? Written by a “history nerd” this book came out of her doctoral dissertation and paints a much more complicated picture: automakers had all the right market research intel but their outreach failed.

Crankshaft, A Periodical

by Richard Lentinello

Created—by a one-man band and in small numbers—for the serious collector-car enthusiast who appreciates in-depth, well-researched articles on a variety of original-spec automobiles, foreign or domestic, old or new.

Building Engines for War

by Edward M. Young

In most wars, military production ramps up by drawing on existing civilian infrastructure. But the tolerances for both technical parameters and work habits may be incompatible so it is the processes themselves that first need to be calibrated.

Charlie Schwab, President of Carnegie Steel, U.S. Steel and Bethlehem Steel  

by William R. Huber

Somebody who should know (Thomas Edison) called him the “master hustler.” He became one of the very rich men of his time—and died in debt. Still, 2000 people lined the streets. So what sort of fellow was this?

The 102nd Ambulance Company in World War I

by Andrew W. German

The US entered the war late but right away stood up medical services and set up hospitals that would be located many miles behind the front and accessible by ambulance trains. As if trench warfare and gas gangrene wasn’t bad enough, there’s also the influenza epidemic of 1918. Fortify yourselves.

Railway Travel in World War Two

The really interesting books raise questions you didn’t even know you should be having. Like this one: civilian use of railroads during wartime when resources are limited. Discuss.

Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s

by Anne Morrissy

You’ll never look at a taxi cab the same. Next time you hail one, just be glad that no one is likely to shoot at you because of it. A hundred years ago . . . different story, at least in Chicago.

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