Racing Reviews

This book cuts to the things that matter and show you how they did it! It's a must have if you love the Gee Bee.

The construction and flying performance of a near-exact replica of a 1932 Gee Bee R-2 -- one of the most loved and loathed of the Golden Age air racers. This book debunks the myths and reveals the facts surrounding the Granville Brothers stubby little racer.

This book touches the heart. If you love books this is a must. This will be one of the best books you can ever read

This book has A very touching story. The author mixed in many different modes. He used some comic relief when needed. The book is very touching. This book can be read by anyone who loves horses. The photos speak for themselves.It can teach to see a whole different veiw of horses. That is why I gave it five stars

Not many Americans are aware that "exotic" racing engine technologies, like dual overhead cams, intercoolers on superchargers, and multiple valves per cylinder -- were first fully developed in Iowa, New Jersey and California -- not in Europe. A few remarkable and mostly German-American engine builders, notably the Duesenberg brothers and Harry Miller (ne Mueller) developed the fastest automobiles in the world in America in the period before the Great Depression. These cars raced on the best tracks in the world, which were hand crafted out of 2 x 4 lumber.

Americans were racing at speeds well over 100 mph on these wooden tracks by 1920 -- well before the nation had adequate roads for motorists. (Borgeson explains that the reason road racing did not catch on in the US was altogether basic: no roads).

This is a very fine book, and it is wonderful to see it back in print. Another good book on this subject is "Gold, Guts and Glory," which is an unfortunate title but a fine collection of essays on the board track era by several different authors. Borgeson's classic is especially strong on Harry Miller. The author himself re-imported and restored one of Miller's famed front drive racers, a car purchased and "emulated" by Ettore Bugatti in the mid-1920s.

At the time of his recent death in France, Grif was just completeing this second edition of this brillient work. It will be published this fall by SAE. Larry Crane, Automobile Magazine's art director say, "he was the purest iconoclast I will ever know." Automobile, Nov. 1997. His work is legendary. His research was paralleled by very few. A must read for the fan of the car enthusiast.

The debut volume in the new Speciality Press "Raceplane Tech" series, Griffon-Powered Mustangs is a fascinating history of the P-51 Mustang, a once very effective World War II era military aircraft that continues to be a popular crowd pleaser with air racing enthusiasts. These Griffon-powered racers are the peak of liquid-cooled racing technology with the Mustang purpose-built fuselage coupled with the Griffon bringing out the maximum in horsepower with the smallest frontal area of any racing aircraft. A "must" for aviation buffs, Kevin Grantham and Nicholas Veronico's Griffon-Powered Mustangs presents the reader with a profusion of illustrations and photos covering every aspect of the aircraft, a world jet racing history, the griffon engine development, "Unlimited Class Racing Results", and more!

Griffon-Powered Mustangs is the debut volume in the new Specialty Press "Raceplan Tech" series. The reader is presented with the information on airframe modifications, Griffon engine development, development of Miss Ashley II; world jet racing history; unlimited class racing results and the evolution of the world record-setting Red Baron. The informative text is enhanced with first-hand interviews of engine builders, crew chiefs, and pilots, along with 160 b&w photos and a four-page layout of full color photography. Griffon-Powered Mustangs is an impressive contribution to personal and academic aeronautics collections.

Journalist LynNell Hancock has produced the book that finally tells the story of the people affected by former President Bill Clinton's promise to "end welfare as we know it." Anyone interested in social policy should be extraordinarily grateful for Hancock's eloquent, evocative work. Following the lives of three women for several years and documenting their struggles to get off welfare, Hancock details the bureaucratic difficulties and the every day obstacles -- like the lack of affordable, decent child care -- that make this goal so elusive. With a journalist's careful eye and graceful prose, Hancock interweaves each woman's story with detailed analysis about the history of national and NYC welfare reform. In the tradition of Jonathon Kozol, her work is page-turning, deeply moving, and intellectually astute. As the clock is about to run out on the five-year limit set by Clinton's legislation, Hands to Work couldn't be more important -- or timely.

Finally an antidote to five years of endless conservative cheerleading about how wonderful welfare reform has worked to get the unworthy poor off the public dole. The Personal Responsibility Act of 1996, signed by then Pres. Clinton, launched a massive remaking of how federal, state and local governments aid the poor and define who is deserving of help. By one measure, welfare reform has been an unmitigated success: it pushed millions of poor people off the rolls and into a limbo of dubious workfare programs that offered street cleaning, for one example in New York City, as a job training. What has this all meant for poor people buffeted by welfare reform? The policy wonks and elected officials have paid scant attention to that critical question.

Luckily, journalist LynNell Hancock has trained her sights on the impact of welfare reform on real people--not the statistics we're usually offered. The women she shadows for several years in researching her book are as different as they could be: a Puerto Rican mother with a drug addiction; an African American mother fending off a ex-husband with a murder conviction; and a Russian immigrant with the drive to become a doctor. Hancock is our medium as we visit their lives and witness the absurdities, the indignities, and the incredible work invovled simply in being poor. All these women, Hancock included, deserve a merit badge for having confronted the welfare bureaucracy and survived its limitless hurdles, its rules crafted by people who live in mahongany paneled offices, not roach infested apartments.

With careful, sharp-eyed reporting and lively prose, Hancock lets these women's stories--with all their flaws and strengths--come shining through. They are not heroines for being poor; these women are heroines for keeping hope alive in the face of countless humiliations and degradations and for continuing to fight for better lives for themselves and their children.

As Congress prepares this spring to reconsider the 1996 welfare law, every member who will cast a vote should read this book. Beautifully written, politically astute but with no finger-wagging, Hands to Work is a must read for all who think they know anything about the poor among us.

I bought this book at Borders and it is an excellent book that will help you make money at the track. I thought I knew alot about harness racing but this book takes you to the next level. If your going to gamble make money when your doing it. I am so on fire since I started using this book that it is scary, I can't beleive how good I've gotten. Check this out friends.

This book helps you win big at the harrness tracks.It will help you learn how to beat the favorite. If you want to win buy this book

Fred Broadhead has meticulously researched the story of Whirlaway and presents the results in a heartfelt tribute to one of our finest Triple Crown winners. Whirlaway was not only a fast and gutsy horse, he spent his four-year old season running for war bonds, in order to assist the war effort. His efforts alone let to America's tracks contributing a substantial amount towards the campaign. Whirlaway never missed a start, despite having his eye seriously hurt, being high-weighted, and having to endure a merry-go-round of jockeys on his back. You will thoroughly appreciate this great equine hero after reading this book.

Whirlaway is absolutely astonishing, and arguably the greatest thoroughbred in history. He is the only horse to win the Triple Crown and the Travers. He could run on the dirt or through ankle-deep mud. He started sixty consecutive races. He was top-weighted in virutally all of his appearances. He was the best stretch runner in history, as borne out by his 1941 Kentucky Derby. In that race, he ran the last furlong in eleven seconds flat. That's a record that still stands today, Secretariat notwithstanding.

This is a great book, meticulously researched, and lovingly told.

The murmur of the crowd, the electricity in the air - "they're off" and the smell or dirt and cigar all permeate this fine book by Bert Sugar- Runyonesque, wheeler dealer, yarn spinner and general sports know-it-all.
You'll love the cast of characters; jock's, trainers, owners and the horses, colorful, and bizzare, a whole stew of odd ducks and delightful stories.

Bert Sugar goes behind the scenes, interviewing owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys and track operators with anecdotes, history and charm only he can do.
Horse Sense follows the money behind the business of racing which was once dominated by eccentric families and strange characters.
A real nice read for any horse enthusiast!

I remember Andy Southard,jr. when I had a custom body and paint shop in Oakland California. Andy was doing pinstriping and taking photos for some of the leading "Hot Rod" magazines. The amazing thing about Andy's photos, the quality is superior and really shows the true colors of the "Candy Apple" and Pearl paint jobs done by some really talented people, including the late Bill Cushenbery.

Andy was right there during the "Cool Days" of Rod and Custom car building in the 1950s-60s. I only regret that my own custom paint work was not in his collection (He was back east at the time). Andy's books are a real asset to anyone who loves the superior craftsmen that built these works of rolling art.

Excellent photography, well written, and, by a man who "knew them all" -- Andy Southard Jr. - wow! He has captured the custom car and hot rod culture of the 60's as no other could, with his fabulous photographic library and unparalled knowledge of the special vehicles and the personalities he writes about.

This is a "must read" for all who are interested in the history and art form of hot rods and custom cars, whether they be past or present enthusiasts. It is truly a "trip down memory lane" for all who participated either as an owner of one of these unique vehicles or who just enjoyed them as a spectator.

I can't wait for his books on the 70's and 80's that will hopefully follow! Congratulations to Andy Southard Jr, for a very well-done book!