Runways and Racers focuses on sports car races held at military installations throughout America in the early 1950s. It was a marriage of convenience for the Sports Car Club of America and the Strategic Air Command, with both parties gaining advantages from the arrangement. The thorn in the side turned out to be a Congressman whose own aspirations exceeded his standing, but who found himself in a position to be able to influence the outcome of events ...

This volume contains the proceedings of the International Conference on Technology, Arms Race and Disarmament which took place at Castiglioncello, Italy, in September 1987. The papers examine strategic defence policies, nuclear weapons proliferation and arms control among many other topics.

Modern Britain is a nation shaped by wars. The boundaries of its separate parts are the outcome of conquest and resistance. The essence of its identity are the warrior heroes, both real and imagined, who still capture the national imagination; from Boudicca to King Arthur, William Wallace to Henry V, the Duke of Wellington to Winston Churchill. In WARRIOR RACE, Lawrence James investigates the role played by war in the making of Britain. Drawing on the latest historical and archaeological research, as well as numerous unfamiliar and untapped resources, he charts the full reach of British military history: the physical and psychological impact of Roman military occupation; the monarchy's struggle for mastery of the British Isles; the civil wars of the seventeenth century; the 'total war' experience of twentieth century conflict. WARRIOR RACE is popular history at its very best: immaculately researched and hugely readable. Balancing the broad sweep of history with an acute attention to detail, Lawrence James never loses sight of this most fascinating and enduring of subjects: the question of British national identity and character.

This book focuses on the different aspects that contributed to the development of Northeast American sports car racing during the 1950s. The evolution from amateur drivers racing on public roads in 1950, to both professional and amateur drivers racing at private, purpose-built tracks in 1959, demanded huge leaps of faith, trust and understanding. The transition was neither easy nor uneventful for drivers, clubs or track owners, and the tragedy, politics and intrigue that came to characterise the period are covered here in fascinating detail.

Years ago, Burt Rutan told a reporter for Popular Mechanics, “If we make a courageous decision like the goal and program we kicked off for Apollo in 1961, we will see our children or grandchildren in outposts on other planets.” Legendary science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clark would later recall Rutan’s quote in a piece he wrote about SpaceShipOne and comment, “Fortunately, we need not rely solely on governments for expanding humanity’s presence beyond the Earth.” Burt Rutan’s Race to Space showcases Rutan’s herculean efforts to do just that. Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum displays his most celebrated achievements, including SpaceShipOne, which won the coveted $10 million Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight; Voyager, which hangs with SpaceShipOne in the Milestones of Flight gallery; the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer; and the VariEze. His many aerospace innovations preceding his most recently conceived designs, SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo, chronicle a progressive, step-by-step attempt to break barriers with engineering know-how and a wondrous imagination, all the while remaining on the forefront of the burgeoning private spaceflight industry. Rutan’s X Prize triumph and subsequent spacecraft designs are not a beginning, nor an end, but are steps in Burt Rutan’s continuing adventure to expand humanity’s presence beyond the Earth and into space.

Mira Slovak was born in Czechoslovakia and endured both the Nazi occupation and the brutal Russian liberation. He joined the Czech Air force, rising to Captain by the age of 21. When he could no longer tolerate life under the Communists, he hijacked an airliner and flew across the Iron Curtain to freedom. He went to work for the CIA and was eventually sent to the US and given a job as Bill Boeing, Jr's personal pilot. When Boeing began racing Hydroplanes in the late 1950s, Mira was his driver. During his ten year career as a hydroplane driver, he won many races and two national championships. He met Presidents and dated movie starlets. After a serious hydroplane accident, Slovak switched to airplanes where he won another national championship. When he retired from racing he became a stunt pilot and public speaker and talked about the value of freedom and how we should value it above everything else. He outlasted Communism and when it collapsed in 1990 he returned to his home, only to realize that his true home was, and always would, be the United States.

RuPaul's Drag Race UK returns to our screens for Series 3 with an all-new cast ready to slay the runway. Discover the secrets of the Werk Room and get all the gossip backstage in exclusive interviews with the Queens of Series 3. Take on mini challenges, learn the secret to a killer Snatch Game performance, and re-live the most iconic moments of RuPaul's Drag Race UK so far with stories from the Queens of Series 1 and 2. With special features, play-along games, secrets and trivia, this is your perfect companion to the Drag Race extravaganza! Remember kids, reading is fundamental!

Enthusiasm for aviation exploded after Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic in May 1927. The National Air Races, held in Cleveland between 1929 and 1949, collectively represent one of the most significant aviation events of the 20th century. Cleveland's newly constructed municipal airport, the world's largest airport facility at the time, along with its permanent 50,000-seat bleachers, won the city hosting rights to the event. The National Air Races captivated the public during the grim years of the Great Depression and provided a showcase for many aviation innovations including retractable landing gear, low-wing monoplanes, aircooled engines, and careful streamlining. A deadly crash ended the National Air Races more than 50 years ago, but the races made an unforgettable impression. This book should reinforce the memories of those who saw the races firsthand and pique the interest of those who have always wished they had.