This is a highly personal and richly illustrated exploration of more than 50 highly individual homes of speedway, including all of the UK's current tracks and a selection of iconic venues from the past. For the author, and thousands of others, these speedway tracks really do have the promise of Cinder Heaven.

The post-war era was British speedway’s golden age. Ten million spectators passed through the turnstiles of a record number of tracks at the sport’s peak. With league gates as high as 80,000, speedway offered a colourful means of escape from the grim austerity of the times.A determinedly clean image, with no betting and rival fans mingling on the terraces, made speedway the family night out of choice. The sport thrived despite punitive taxation and Government threats to close down the speedways as a threat to industrial productivity.A three-division National League stretched from Exeter to Edinburgh and the World Championship Final attracted a capacity audience to Wembley. Test matches against Australia provided yet another international dimension.Even at the height of its popularity, speedway was a sporting edifice built on unstable foundations, which crumbled alarmingly as the 1950s dawned and Britain’s economic and social recovery brought competing attractions like television.

An updated edition of this popular book exploring more than 50 highly individual homes of speedway throughout the UK

Around the world lies a number of long-forgotten raceways; windswept and abandoned, the derelict pit roads and crumbling concrete are all that remains of once great race tracks. From the NASCAR heartland of North Wilkesboro and Middle Georgia to the great European super speedways at Monza and Brooklands. All photographed as they are now, but remembered in their prime.

Phoenix's Manzanita Speedway, the last of the big dirt tracks located near the central corridor of a major metropolitan area, is now gone. The track opened in the early 1950s when Jack Holloway, president of the Arizona Jalopy Racing Association, along with Avery Doyle and Gene Gunn, set about convincing Rudy Everett and Larry Meskimen to convert their unprofitable dog-racing operation into a quarter-mile dirt track. On August 25, 1951, Everett and Meskimen beamed with excitement as Manzy opened to an overflowing crowd. They had tapped into America's post-World War II craze for automobiles and found their own Lost Dutchman Gold Mine in the process. Manzanita Speedway dominated dirt-track racing in Phoenix and was heralded as one of the top five dirt tracks in the United States. Manzy became an integral part of the racing culture in Phoenix, and its sale and closure in 2009 created a sense of lingering disappointment.

Road racing has long-storied roots in North America that reach from coast to coast and to Canada. Some of the greatest drivers to ever compete raced wickedly fast machines, staged epic duels on winding strips of asphalt, and created history. This history left an enduring legacy that is revealed and celebrated in Lost Road Courses. Road racer and road racing expert Martin Rudow retraces road racing's glorious past and visits the defunct classic road courses across the United States and Canada. Many road courses were built in the 1950s and 1960s, the golden age of American road racing. These classic road courses built and hosted famous races for Trans-Am, Can-Am, IndyCar, Formula 1, and sports car racing, but did not survive the times. They fell victim to changing times, poor business decisions, urban sprawl, safety standards, and increasing real estate prices. Rudow recounts the breathtaking races and fascinating history of more than 16 tracks from around North America. Riverside International Raceway, Bridgehampton Race Circuit, Ontario Motor Speedway, Continental Divide Raceway, and many others were once major race venues that have since closed. The great race teams, legendary drivers, classic race series that visited the tracks, and cars that turned laps are brought into full focus. The exploits of Chaparral, McLaren, Bud Moore, Lotus, Penske, and other race teams as well as racing greats Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones, Jim Hall, A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, Jim Clark, and Dan Gurney are covered. Rudow also digs beneath the surface to reveal the story behind the story. The visionaries and businessmen who saw potential and risked capital to build these palaces of speed come back to life. He also recognizes the unsung heroes and regional racers who competed, staffed, and took on various roles at these tracks. In the pages of this book, a nostalgic tour of these famous races at these vintage road circuits unfolds. Many period photos illustrate the racing action and the tracks themselves in their former glory, and modern color shows the tracks as they currently stand. If you're a fan of classic sports car, Can-Am, Trans-Am, IndyCar, Formula 1, as well as classic and unique tracks of yesteryear, this book is a must-have.

Saving Speedway tells how the road to recovery began when a small group of men of vision re-opened long-closed venues and then, in 1960, formed a new competition, the Provincial League, which doubled the number of speedway venues overnight and eventually led to a new Golden Age for the sport.

The second edition of this guide to the "Garden State" reveals the historic, cultural, and ecological diversity of the state. Includes extensive coverage of the Jersey Shore and Atlantic City. New Jersey is a state full of wonders to surprise curious travelers and residents alike. This guide leads you away from the busy interstate highways to reveal the cultural, historic, and geographical diversity that lies beyond the New Jersey Turnpike. For wine connoisseurs, there are more than 25 wineries that offer tours, tastings, and festivals; for history buffs, New Jersey, known as the "Cockpit of the Revolution," offers battlefield state parks, monuments, and reenactments. And that's not all: New Jersey's 127-mile shoreline has many diverse communities, including the historic Victorian seaside resort of Cape May, itself a national historic landmark; the casinos of Atlantic City; the natural beauty of Island Beach State Park, with sand dune-scattered, long, white beaches, nature trails, birding, surfing, and guided kayak tours; and the hip shore town of Red Bank, with art galleries, boutiques, bistros, and jazz clubs. In addition, this comprehensive guide to the state includes opinionated listings of inns, B&Bs, hotels, and vacation cabins; hundreds of dining reviews, from diners to four-star restaurants; up-to-date maps; an alphabetical "What's Where" subject guide to aid in trip planning; and handy icons that point out family-friendly establishments, wheelchair access, places of special value, and lodgings that accept pets.

This ultimate illustrated history of Aerosmith—one of the greatest rock ’n’ roll bands of all time and the best-selling American hard rock band of all time—is now revised and updated to celebrate the group’s 50th anniversary as well as their multi-year farewell concert tour. This massive, visually exhilarating celebration in hardcover provides a front-row seat to the Boston Bad Boys’ entire career: scrapping their way cross-country in the 1970s, scrapping their way back to the top of the heap in the late 1980s, and scrapping with each other the entire way. Updated with 16 additional pages of text and photographs, this complete history of one of the world's most successful and popular bands features: A lively and honest band history by music journalist Richard Bienstock Sidebar album reviews from a host of well-known music journalists, including Greg Kot, Jaan Uhelszki, Chuck Eddy, Bill Holdship, Martin Popoff, Daniel Bukszpan, and more Nearly 400 photos of the band, on and off the stage, and images of rare memorabilia, including gig posters, backstage passes, ticket stubs, 7-inch picture sleeves, and more Advice from Steven Tyler and Joe Perry to young bands A survey and discussion of the guitars employed by Joe Perry and Brad Whitford over their 50 years in—and out—of Aerosmith An Aerosmith discography encompassing all official audio and video releases Aerosmith: The Ultimate Illustrated 50 Year History of the Boston Bad Boys is an awesome, must-have add to the library of every Aerosmith fan.