Balloons and Airships: A Tale of Lighter Than Air Aviation

by Anthony Burton

What huge advantage does an LTA craft have still today? Range. This old story has a future, and every now and then a new book comes along to bring us current.

The Royal Navy in Action, Art from Dreadnought to Vengeance

by John Fairley

Warships in action are something fierce to behold, and even paintings reproduced at a size so much smaller than the often majestic originals stir the soul. Throw in some well crafted prose and you have a book you won’t want to put down.

Sunbeam Aero Engines

by Alec Brew

Within the arc from tinplate working to land speed record cars fall many interim steps, and this small book gives a thorough account of how Sunbeam got into the aero engine business and how that spilled over into record cars.

Porsche Special Editions

by Matt Stone

The subtitle covers all the bases: “Includes 930 Turbo Flachbau, GT1, RUF, Singer Vehicle Design, IROC RSR, Club and Anniversary Specials, and More.” The factory alone has brought out over two dozen 911-based Specials and several more are in the works right now—and a book may well be the only place you’ll see one.

Driven to Crime: True Stories of Wrongdoing in Motor Racing 

by Crispian Besley

Its cartoonish cover illustration notwithstanding, the book is clever—just ponder the double entendre in the main title—and, more importantly, well researched. From perps to victims of crime, you will be surprised at the cast of characters.

P&O: Across the Oceans, Across the Years

by Ruth Artmonsky and Susie Cox 

After 175 years of plying the seas, there’s a story to be had. From paddle steamers hauling mail to today’s cruise ships, P&O made the world a smaller place. This fantastically well illustrated book will absorb you.

Porsche 75th Anniversary: Expect the Unexpected

by Randy B. Leffingwell

The title says it all: Porsche has achieved a significant anniversary. A perfect reason to write a retrospective and conclude it with a little educated future predicting.

BMW Motorcycles: 100 Years

by Alan Dowds

The book delivers just what the title promises but what makes it unusual is that the author, a motorcycle journalist no less, was initially a BMW skeptic, making his full-throated endorsement all the more worthy of consideration.

Betrayed: Secrecy, Lies, and Consequences

by Frederic H. Martini

Being a POW is hard enough. Not being believed afterwards, and even being denied disability benefits is worse. Having someone who knew of your plight but didn’t help be hailed as a hero is . . . well . . . this book will make you question who the good guys are.

Founders of American Industrial Design

by Carroll Gantz

Unlike craft-based design, industrial design has to take into account how/if materials and techniques work in the real world of mass production. The author was a practicing, award-winning designer himself but also an academic and so has a broad frame of reference.

Spanish Republican Aces

by Rafael A. Permuy López

Spain’s 1936–1939 Civil War was a complicated affair—and not discussed for decades after. One small aspect of it, the aircraft flown by foreign and Spanish pilots on the socialist Republican side supported by Russia, is presented here.

Rick Mears—Thanks: The Story of Rick Mears and the Mears Gang

by Gordon Kirby

Few drivers have won the Indy 500 four times. Mears has—and more than once did he get within reach of another win. He spent his entire 15-year career with one team, and remained there longer than that after his retirement. What makes him so unusual?