High Performance When Britain Ruled Road

This is a nice summary history of the British automobiles manufactured in the post-World War II period, focused primarily on sports cars and sedans exported to the U.S., as well as related automobile racing, primarily in Europe.

A wonderfully researched book that is extremely well written about the history of the British car industry after WWII. Excellent insights into the relationships of the major players. A very enjoyable and educational read..... I could not put it down!!!

Easy reading and great insite as to the rise and fall of the British Motor Industry

Looking forward to reading this book on the ‘last hurrah’ of the British Automobile Industry.

This is a very readable account of an extraordinary period in British car design and manufacturing - before the "suits" killed it.

Immensely enjoyable. I had several British sports cars in the 1960s and 70s, I still have one now, so I was more than interested to read this book. The author delves into the reasons different events happened and why and gives a fascinating insight into characters such as Colin Chapman, William Lyons, John Cooper and so on. The writing style was superb, effectively bring the events to life. I’m sad I finished this book last night!

Peter Grimsdale has crafted an accomplished and engaging narrative which is more than just a book about cars. You get a real sense of what drove the people and the United Kingdom to achieve it's last hurrah as an automotive world leader in the years after 1945 and up until 1970. The author’s fiction writing background is evidenced in the imaginative way that people and events are shaped into a compelling series of intertwined and coherent stories. This engaging style reminded me a bit of Len Deighton’s Battle of Britain book (‘Fighter’) although Grimsdale’s book is a lighter read. The book focusses largely on subjects that most people will be able to relate to – whether or not they are interested in old cars. These include stories and people behind the most beautiful car ever built (Jaguar E-type) or the original mini or the jet powered Rover which became the first compact executive saloon or the kit car that evaded post war new vehicle taxes or indeed the very first SUV. Equally the people and the times are described in a way that gives you a window into their relationships with each other - whether it’s Chapman of Lotus and his golden years of racing achievement with the gifted Scottish Borders driver Jim Clark or the earlier racing days of the now slightly less well known racing drivers Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins as well as the great Stirling Moss. Finally, even the backdrop of the unfolding cultural and industrial environment is nicely touched on. This is a really enjoyable book and an easy read that you will enjoy to the last page.

I particularly enjoyed this book. The author deals with some fairly complex technical subjects in a straightforward and comprehensible way. But, most importantly, his telling of what is a remarkable story is beautifully structured, making it a hard book to put down. His treatment and understanding of the characters is excellent and all in all the book gives a fascinating view of a period which the car industry will never see the like of again.

If you like cars and/or motor racing you will find this book interesting and good value. It romps along quite nicely and is well written. At times the detail of names and places is perhaps a bit overmuch and a mite confusing at times. However the book would have been 5 stars if it had been properly illustrated. It comes with a few glossy pages at the centre of the book with seemingly random b & w photos but they do not relate in to the text. I would have though all the vehicles mentioned in the book would have been easily sourced with photos and to have even line drawings of all the cars referred to in the chapters alongside the text would have made the book much more educational and interesting as would some technical drawings.

As a confirmed petrolhead with shelves of books on post-war British cars there was much in this book that I already knew. This did not detract in any way from my enjoyment of this excellent volume, which includes anecdotes and fascinating asides that more formal histories lack but which add to the narratives with which many of us are familiar. Peter Grimsdale aims his narrative as much at the general reader as the car enthusiast and succeeds. His background as a novelist shows in his ability to drive the story and to place emphasis on certain figures, Lyons, Chapman, Cooper, etc. as central characters. There are those who have criticised the book for not covering ‘this particular company’ or ‘that particular race series’ but that misses the point of ‘High Performance’; the author seeks to celebrate the innovators, visionaries and - yes - chancers that gave the British car industry the success it enjoyed in terms of technical achievement, international recognition and sales figures.In many ways this book reminded me of ‘Empire of the Clouds’, James Hamilton-Paterson’s love letter to the British aircraft industry of the same period. The latter book was later published in a larger, more fully illustrated edition and it would be nice to think that ‘High Performance’ might be similarly handled.Strongly recommended.