Book bits

Very welcome is republication of one of the more comprehensive of the great range of one-make books, “Maintaining The Breed” by John Thornley, which deals with every MG model from the first Kimber Special and subsequent production versions and the M-type and other Midgets, through to the MG TF and MG-A. Because the book was written by the man who was MG, Lt.-Col. John Thornley O.B.E., Director and General Manager of the MG Car Co. Ltd., from 1956 until his retirement in 1969, the book is 100% authentic—and it deals with all that successful racing and record-breaking the Abingdon make indulged in, including Nuvolari’s TT victory.

The whole account is packed with power curves, technical data and the like, and it concludes with MG’s part in the tragic 1955 Le Mans race. This original and comprehensive MG history is otherwise little changed, and represents one of the most detailed of all one-make histories second only to, and of lesser bulk than, Anthony Blight’s Talbot tome. It is republished for the third time since it first appeared in 1950, by MRP Ltd., at £2.80.

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The book “Jackie Stewart, World Driving Champion” by Lyle Kenyon Engel is now available in the UK from the New English Library. It is somewhat out of date, covering Stewart’s career only up to his Matra-Ford days.

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“The Design and Tuning of Competition Engines” by Philip H. Smith, F.I.MECH E., M.S.A.E., has gone into a 5th edition, edited and revised by T. C. Millington, B.A. This 468-page book is published G. T. Fonlis & Co. Ltd., 50a, Bell Street, Henley-on-Thames, at £4.95.

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Some outstandingly good pictures are a feature of the “International Motor Cycle Racing Book”, edited by Tom Macauley and published by Souvenir Press Ltd., 95, Mortimer Street, London, W1, at £1.00. If you think F1 is getting dull, just thumb through this one!