British Racing Green: Drivers, Cars and Triumphs of British Motor Racing

The great cars, drivers and races from the top motor-sporting nations form the theme of this spectacular new series of magnificently illustrated volumes. Each country boasts its bloodlines, companies, engineers, executives and enthusiasts whose powerful competitive spirit and dauntless courage drives them to dominate in motor racing.

In this dramatic first volume, leading experts of British motor racing reveal the amazing stories behind their successes and failures, the great classic endurance races and Grand Prix contests in which they dominated - or faced disaster. Motor racing, which has no equal in the ecstasy of victory and agony of defeat, comes vividly to life in the colorful pages of these magnificent books.

It took Britain a few years to get to grips with first-rank motor racing. Apart from Sunbeam's Grand Prix success in the 1920s, it had to be content with the dramatic exploits of Bentley at Le Mans and in the next decade with victories by MG, Austin, ERA, Aston Martin, Riley and Lagonda as well as star drivers Tim Birkin, Malcolm Campbell and Richard Seaman.

Only after World War II, as David Venables so dramatically portrays, did Britain get the hang of Formula 1 racing. Once it did, there was no stopping British cars and drivers. Momentous breakthroughs came in the 1950s with Connaught, Vanwall and BRM, followed by the rear-engined revolution led by Cooper and Lotus. Engines from Coventry Climax and then Cosworth sat behind great champions including Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorn, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, John Surtees and Jackie Stewart. Meanwhile Jaguar and Aston Martin flew the Union Jack with pride at Le Mans. A reborn Donington joined Goodwood, Silverstone and Brands Hatch as the UK's classic tracks. Thrusting teams like Williams, Tyrrell, McLaren and Brabham joined Lotus at the forefront of Grand Prix racing with the likes of James Hunt, Damon Hill, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton at their wheels. British expertise even prevailed at Indianapolis with wins for Lotus, Lola and March.

Between these covers these men and their machines come colourfully to life in authoritative text, rare illustrations from the world-renowned Ludvigsen Library and striking portraits of great racing cars specially commissioned for this book.