Jonathan Wood - Böcker

One of the most famous of British cars, the diminutive but robust 750 cc Austin Seven, introduced in 1922, changed the course of automobile design and proved the viability of the small-capacity four-cylinder car. The salvation of the Austin company, it was aimed at families who might otherwise have travelled by motorcycle and sidecar, and it remained in production until 1939. The Seven performed as well on the race track as it did on the road and inspired a team of magnificent twin overhead camshaft single-seaters. It survives in respectable numbers to provide new generations of enthusiasts with a practical, economical car to run, race and restore.

With 16.5 million built between 1908 and 1927, the Model T Ford was, until overtaken in the 1970s by the Volkswagen Beetle, the most popular car in automotive history. Mass-produced in America and throughout the globe, such was the Model T's market penetration and value-for-money that in 1921 Henry Ford's deceptively robust Tin Lizzie accounted for every other car on the highways of the world. Illustrated with many rare contemporary photographs from the Ford archives, this album charts the model's nineteen year evolution and seeks to explain how this quirky, ingenious motor car put the world on wheels.

Perhaps the most charismatic of French marques, Citroën was established in 1919 by the brilliant André Citroën. In 1934 Citroën introduced the Traction Avant model, one of the most famous designs in automobile history. In 1948, on a similar theme, the two-cylinder 2CV appeared, a much-loved model with a distinctive roll-back roof; it was built until 1990. Then there were the elegant DS, the luxurious Maserati-engined SM and the acclaimed XM. This edition brings the story up to date with the popular Xsara saloon, the Picasso compact multi-purpose vehicle and the commodious and comfortable C5.

As Britain's most popular sporting marque, MG has emerged as one of a handful of British motoring names to survive into the 21st century. From the quintessential open two-seater MG Midget, through the booming post-war years and the emergence of MG as a provider of sports cars for the world, Jonathan Wood provides an in-depth analysis of the rise and fall of a motoring legend. Examining the various models in detail, the author covers the financial and corporate traumas which afflicted the company, its brief resurgence in 1995 with the release of the MGF and the final sad chapter which saw a British icon sold off to foreign investors. As production begins again at the Longbridge factory after a three-year hiatus, this is an informative and at times touching glimpse into the history of one of the world's most recognisable sports cars.

This account examines the history of coachbuilding, beginning with the coachbuilders who for generations had built horse-drawn wooden carriages, and explains how they turned their craft to building the bodywork of the first motorised cars. Using photographs of the different stages of coachbuilding, the author describes the materials, equipment and key techniques involved. Today the profession of coachbuilding is almost a lost art, yet as the restoration of vintage cars seeks to keep the trade alive, this book reflects back on the heyday of the coachbuilt motor car and the skilled workers that made it their craft.

Austin, Hillman, Morris, Standard and Wolseley were a handful of the myriad marques that once constituted Britain's indigenous motor industry. Born in 1896 into the high summer of Victorian prosperity, the native British industry survived until the collapse of The Rover Group in 2005. Jonathan Wood chronicles its 109-year life, from its production of hand-made bespoke automobiles for the fortunate few to the arrival of mass production to provide cars for the many. He looks at the factories and the people who worked in them, and examines the role played by the component manufacturers that serviced the industry. Wood offers explanations as to why motor manufacturing followed the British motorcycle, bicycle and cotton industries into oblivion.

Oxford police detective Arthur Wallace is no hero. He's a good cop, but prefers for action and heroics remain on the screen, safely performed by professionals. But then, secretive government agency MI37 comes calling, hoping to recruit Arthur in their struggle against horrors from another dimension known as the Progeny. Can an everyman stand against sanity-ripping cosmic horrors?

Another day. Another zombie T-Rex to put down. All part of the routine for Arthur Wallace and MI37-the government department devoted to battling threats magical, supernatural, extra-terrestrial, and generally odd. Except a zombie T-Rex is only the first of his problems...Before Arthur can say, "But didn't I save the world yesterday?" a new co-director at MI37 is threatening his job, middle-aged Russian cyborg wizards are threatening his life, and his co-workers are threatening his sanity.

When it rains it pours - monster machines. That attack during a funeral and ruin everyone's day. MI317 - the government department devoted to defending Britain from cosmic horrors - is under siege, so Arthur Wallace and his team must travel to Area 51, ably - and oddly - assisted by Agent Gran. But their travels don't end there, not when there's an Arctic town populated entirely by spore zombies and the 2.0 version of Clyde has some funny ideas about how to save the world.

Arthur Wallace and the MI37 team confront their complex personal relationships as well as robots originally created to aid the Nazi's invasion of Russia, leading to a trip for the team to the Himalayas, which takes them to a Nepalese death cult, then back to London for the final assault - amidst assorted relationship break-ups, hangovers and pregnancy scares.