Whitney Straight: Racing Driver, War Hero, Industrialist - The Authorised Biography

Kenny, Paul

ISBN 10: 1803991119 / ISBN 13: 9781803991115

Published by The History Press, 2026

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 409617278

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Whitney Straight: Racing Driver, War Hero, Industrialist - The Authorised Biography
• Publisher: The History Press
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1803991119
• ISBN 13: 9781803991115
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Whitney Straight made his own way in life. Born in New York with a silver spoon in his mouth, he would earn his living in the boardrooms of some of Britain’s greatest companies. He dropped out of Cambridge to become an outstanding racing driver and run a team of Maseratis across Europe and Africa. A qualified pilot at 17, he revolutionised aircraft design for the enthusiast, and his extraordinary efforts in the Second World War saw him rise from Pilot Officer to Air Commodore. He survived the invasion of Norway, a crash-landing in occupied France and a year as a PoW to emerge with an MC, DFC and US Legion of Merit. After the war, Straight rejected Churchill’s proposal of a career in politics and instead became CEO of BOAC, transforming it into a national airline to be proud of. At Rolls-Royce, he railed against a company dominated by engineers who made poor businessmen, and played a founding role in the separate paths of the aero and auto businesses that are still seen today. An incurable romantic, he could never imagine being married to anyone other than his wife, yet he had numerous relationships. Paul Kenny has been granted unfettered access to Straight’s diaries and photograph albums, and has scoured archives on both sides of the Atlantic, leaving no stone unturned in pursuit of the full story of one of the twentieth century’s greatest mavericks.

About the Author

Paul Kenny is one of the few chartered accountants with a degree in archaeology. His first book, The Man Who Supercharged Bond (Haynes, 2009) was described by chat show host and petrol-head Jay Leno as ‘one the automobile books of the year, if not the automobile book of the year’.