Touch Wood - The Autobiography of the 1953 Le Mans Winner
Touch Wood - The Autobiography of the 1953 Le Mans Winner

Author: Duncan Hamilton

Publisher: Kings Road Publishing

Published: 2014-06-05

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 1784180815

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Duncan Hamilton won the classic Le Mans 24-Hours race in 1953, co-driving his works entered C-Type Jaguar with Tony Rolt. In 1954 the same pair finished second, losing to a much larger-engined V12 Ferrari and by the narrowest margin in years. In all, Duncan Hamilton competed in nine of those great Le Mans endurance classics.Having cut his racing teeth in such pre-war cars as the R-Type M.G. and the Bugatti Type 35B, Duncan graduated to one of the immortal Lago-Talbot Grand Prix cars - which he subsequently mislaid in a French coal-hole. After a hugely eventful racing career - only Duncan could get himself fired by Jaguars for winning the Rheims 12-Hours race in 1956 - he eventually hung up his racing helmet in 1958.As Earl Howe wrote in the original 1960 foreword to this book, though the drivers of this age were fiercely competitive, there were also 'friends to meet, stories to tell and almost certainly a party to be enjoyed...' Duncan Hamilton was certainly a little larger than life, and this book tells the story of a man who wasn't just one of the most successful drivers of the 1950s, but also the man who trespassed at Brooklands, who spent the war in the Fleet Air Arm surviving plane crashes and trying to drown American Admirals and who was once stopped for speeding on the Cromwell Road, rushing to take part in a TV programme on road safety. It is a must for any classic car enthusiast's bookshelf.

Jaguar C-type
Jaguar C-type

Author: Philip Porter

Publisher: Porter Press

Published: 2017-10-03

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9781907085468

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This glorious book tells the story of the celebrated lightweight Jaguar C-type, chassis number XKC 051, that Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt drove to victory in the 1953 Le Mans 24 Hours. The car went on to have a busy post-works racing career, first with Ecurie Ecosse, then with privateer drivers Bill Smith and Geoffrey Allison. Among its small number of collector custodians in later years, the names Briggs Cunningham in America and Adrian Hamilton (son of Duncan) in the UK stand out. The development of the C-type is described, focusing on the three lightweights of 1953 with thinner-gauge aluminum bodies, pioneering disc brakes, and aircraft-style fuel tanks. All this is covered in fascinating detail, supported by interviews with drivers and mechanics, a fine collection of period images and studio photographs.

Provided You Don't Kiss Me
Provided You Don't Kiss Me

Author: Duncan Hamilton

Publisher: HarperCollins UK

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 0007247117

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Look Duncan, you're a journalist. One day you'll write a book about this club. Or, more to the point, about me. So you may as well know what I'm thinking and save it up for later when it won't do any harm to anyone.

Rofgo Collection
Rofgo Collection

Author: Doug Nye

Publisher: Porter Press

Published: 2020-06

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9781907085673

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ROFGO Collection offers an exclusive look at one of the world's greatest collections of competition cars. During the late 1960s, the success achieved by the Gulf-JW Automotive team fired the imagination of a young German enthusiast by the name of Roald Goethe and created a lasting impression. Decades later, and with the help of Adrian Hamilton, Goethe set about fulfilling a childhood dream. His mission was to create a collection of racers that had been backed by one of the most famous names in motorsport sponsorship - Gulf Oils. From sports-racers and single-seaters to 21st century GT contenders, the result is an unrivaled and truly evocative set of more than 30 cars - all of which are included in this exciting new title. Every car in the collection, from Mirage M1 to Aston Martin GTE, covered in depth by one of the world's leading motorsport historians. The full history of iconic models such as the Ford GT40, Porsche 917 and McLaren M23 - plus lesser-known curiosities such as the Mirage M5 Formula Ford car. Quotes from the drivers, engineers and team managers who were involved with each car. Full specifications and period race history for every car included in the extensive appendices. More than 300 photographs, including a specially commissioned photo shoot of each car and superb archive images. Limited edition of 950 copies.

Albion's Seed
Albion's Seed

Author: David Hackett Fischer

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1991-03-14

Total Pages: 981

ISBN-13: 019974369X

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This fascinating book is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time. In this sense, nearly all Americans are "Albion's Seed," no matter what their ethnicity may be. The concluding section of this remarkable book explores the ways that regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics from 1789 to 1988, and still help to shape attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence, on which differences between American regions are greater than between European nations.

Command Of The Air
Command Of The Air

Author: General Giulio Douhet

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2014-08-15

Total Pages: 620

ISBN-13: 1782898522

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In the pantheon of air power spokesmen, Giulio Douhet holds center stage. His writings, more often cited than perhaps actually read, appear as excerpts and aphorisms in the writings of numerous other air power spokesmen, advocates-and critics. Though a highly controversial figure, the very controversy that surrounds him offers to us a testimonial of the value and depth of his work, and the need for airmen today to become familiar with his thought. The progressive development of air power to the point where, today, it is more correct to refer to aerospace power has not outdated the notions of Douhet in the slightest In fact, in many ways, the kinds of technological capabilities that we enjoy as a global air power provider attest to the breadth of his vision. Douhet, together with Hugh “Boom” Trenchard of Great Britain and William “Billy” Mitchell of the United States, is justly recognized as one of the three great spokesmen of the early air power era. This reprint is offered in the spirit of continuing the dialogue that Douhet himself so perceptively began with the first edition of this book, published in 1921. Readers may well find much that they disagree with in this book, but also much that is of enduring value. The vital necessity of Douhet’s central vision-that command of the air is all important in modern warfare-has been proven throughout the history of wars in this century, from the fighting over the Somme to the air war over Kuwait and Iraq.