Description

Most motoring and transport history books confine themselves to a limited and highly specialized field, but in Early Days on the Road Lord Montagu and G. N.Georgano have set out to reflect the diversity of mechanical vehicles, propelled by the power of steam, the internal-combustion engine, electricity, or human muscle, that have been seen on the world’s roads over the past century and a half.

A history should, of course, extend to the present day, but there are good reasons for stopping in 1941: in that year the United States entered World War II, development of passenger cars and other civilian vehicles was everywhere postponed until better times, and pleasure motoring all but ended in European countries. This attractive, comprehensive and authoritative book will appeal to all who are interested in the vehicles of a past age, whether buff or beginner.

They will learn about cyclecars and steam wagons, ambulances and taxicabs, road surfaces, cycling dress, and countless other facets of the evolution of transport over the last 150 years. They will see an eleven-year-old motorist from the turn of the century, Bertrand de Lessep’s airscrew driven car, the 100-ton Scammell of 1929, pioneer motor scooters of the early 1920s, and an amphibious tricycle that was pedalled some way up the Severn in 1895.

The magnificent collection of more than 400 black-and-white and colour illustrations contained in Early Days on the Road offers a representative panorama of mechanical road transport in all its fascinating variety of form and size. The photographs, many of them never published before, have been carefully selected to show the vehicles in their contemporary settings, providing a vivid commentary on the changing social scene.

Hardback in good condition. Dust wrapper also good, white cover has one or two minor marks