Download or read book The Bugatti Queen written by Miranda Seymour and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born in 1900 to a soon-to-be-widowed postmaster's wife in a small French village, Hélène Delangle's background offered no suggestion of the extraordinary life she was to lead. The first step was to leave the country behind and head to the city -- in this case, a Paris in the grip of an intoxicating 1920s blend of creativity and debauchery. She became a dancer, and then a stripper. But the demi-monde of gauze veils and admirers was not enough. A visit to the Actors' Championships, a uniquely French meeting of the theatrical world with the race-track, opened her eyes to the glamorous combination of machines and speed. Quickly establishing herself as a racer of uncommon talent and audacity, the beautiful woman now known as Hellé Nice -- Hellish Nice to her British fans -- then caught the attention of none other than Ettore Bugatti, founder of the marque with which her name will always be associated. And yet, despite the fame and the fortune she amassed in an unprecedented career, she died penniless and alone, an old woman in a crumbling Nice flat surrounded only by memories. THE BUGATTI QUEEN is the story of a great pioneer of motor racing who happened to be a woman. Re-creating her rollercoaster career with great verve and panache, Miranda Seymour brilliantly shows us a life now forgotten -- and makes it unforgettable.

Download or read book The Bugatti Queen written by Miranda Seymour and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Even if you have never thrilled to the drone of powerful cars jockeying for position on a racetrack," writes London's Literary Review, "Miranda Seymour's biography of the daring female driver Hellé Nice will have you riveted to your seat." Indeed, the story of this record-shattering woman-known as "Hellish Nice" to her fans and "Hell on Ice" to her rivals-provides a fascinating and unexpected view of Europe and America in the years between the wars. Transcending her provincial background, and taking the name "Hellé Nice," Hélène Delangle made her way into the Parisian demimonde of the 1920s as a nude model, ballerina, and cabaret dancer. But it was on the racetrack, thrilled by the combination of machinery and speed, that Nice would realize her destiny, becoming the "fastest woman in the world." Catching the attention of the formidable Ettore Bugatti, designer of the world's most desirable cars, Nice gained admission to the exclusive male club of drivers. Her readiness to pose for the camera with seductively half-closed eyes and a radiant smile, coupled with her willingness to risk her life for a record or a win, made Hellé Nice an irresistible commodity for Bugatti's marque. Impenitently promiscuous, her many lovers ranged from engineers and mechanics to aristocrats of the racing world such as Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Count Bruno d'Harcourt. A racer of thrilling audacity, Hellé Nice competed in numerous Grand Prix, was the only woman to drive the treacherous American dirt tracks and speedbowls in the 1930s, and set new land-speed records until a notorious accident in Brazil nearly ended her racing career. Her comeback impeded by the war, she lived out the Occupation in the South of France. In 1949, she was mysteriously denounced by a hostile fellow driver as a Gestapo agent. Eventually, Hellé Nice would die in obscurity, the shadow on her reputation causing her name to be written out of racing history. Drawn from a remarkable cache of newly discovered papers, Miranda Seymour's Bugatti Queen sheds new light on both the treacherous world of international racing and life in Occupied France, while revealing the story of a fearless and passionate woman who lived for challenge.

Download or read book Bugatti Supercars written by Lance Cole and published by The Crowood Press. This book was released on 2024-06-10 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a fresh view of Bugatti, this book frames the design highlights of a series of Bugatti supercars that colour the marque's journey from its origins as an early 'supercar' to its reborn reality as a modern 'hypercar'. These Bugatti's have been chosen to tell a story that uniquely covers the original Bugatti's and the very latest iterations of Bugatti. Joining the two Bugatti camps, old and new, together creates a new roadmap of Bugatti coverage that is essential reading for both those familiar with the marque and for more recent Bugatti enthusiasts across a wider motoring landscape. Blending engineering, styling, art and more, Bugatti's unique story has stretched over one hundred years, giving us cars that capture the soul through exquisite engineering and design. Illustrated with stunning photographs, many of which are previously unpublished, the seasoned enthusiast, the established aficionado and the younger generation of Bugatti newcomers are provided with an up-to-date album of Bugatti information. The text is a guide by which to enter and explore Bugatti and also a conversation about Bugatti details and delights for those with deeper knowledge of the marque.

Download or read book The History of Speed written by Martin Roach and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-10-29 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A special treat...The pictures and stories combine to provide a rich texture to telling the difficult story of why we chase speed like an addiction.' Valerie Thompson, the world's fastest female motorcycle racer Ever since we built machines that could transport us, there has been a desire to find ways to make them go faster. For some, going faster isn't enough - they want to be the fastest. This book celebrates those who have built the machines and driven them at ever greater speeds. This is The History of Speed. Bestselling motorsport writer Martin Roach tells the extraordinary story of those who have come to be obsessed by speed. From Camille Jenatzy, 'the Red Devil', who became the first man to drive at over 100kmh in 1899, through the golden age of Malcolm Campbell and his Bluebird, and on to the modern era of jet- and rocket-propelled cars, we have gone faster and faster. But this book is not just about these record-breakers, Roach also looks at the technology, the engines and the inventors who helped progress in speed at all levels, from Formula One to the supercars from the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes that are eagerly snapped up by collectors, rarely to be seen on the road. Accompanied by some of the most stunning images of the cars and those who made and drove them, Roach tells a wonderful story of innovation and invention. He talks to some of the great drivers to find out what inspires them to risk their lives, and finds out from engineers how they developed their ideas. Along the way, we hear some remarkable tale and anecdotes, but also find out how the pursuit of speed can also have its costs, with many tragic heroes and heroines falling along the way. If you've ever thrilled to the roar of a sports car engine, of loved the feel of the g-force as you accelerate away, or even looked on in wonder at a powerful engine, The History of Speed is a book that you will not want to miss out on.

Download or read book Fast Ladies written by Jean François Bouzanquet and published by Veloce Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2009-07 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It took a great deal of determination on the part of women to sweep aside male resistance from the inner circles of the motoring world. A veritable saga with a wealth of illustrations spanning almost a century of motor racing. Over forty unique portraits of daring, brave women who took part in speed records events, rallies and Grand Prix races.

Download or read book Women Behind the Wheel written by Nancy A. Nichols and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2024-03-05 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the adolescent thrill of getting a driver's license to the dreaded commutes of adulthood, from vintage muscle cars to electric vehicles, this groundbreaking book reveals the outsized impact the car has had—and will continue to have—on the lives of women. Since their inception cars have defined American culture, but until quite recently car histories were largely written by and about men—with little attention given to the fascinating story of women and cars. In this engaging non-fiction narrative, Nancy A. Nichols, the daughter of a used car salesman, uses the cars her father sold and the ones her family drove to tell a larger story about how the car helped to define modern womanhood. From her sister’s classic Mustang to her mother’s Chevy Convertible to her own Honda minivan, Nichols tells a personal story in order to shed light on a universal one. Cars helped women secure the right to vote, changed the nature of romance, and influenced both fashion and child rearing customs. In the just over 100 years since their inception, cars have created possibilities for commerce and romance even as they exposed women to new kinds of danger. Women Behind the Wheel explores the uniquely gendered landscape of the automobile, detailing the many reasons why cars are both more expensive and more dangerous for women drivers. The automobile is on the cusp of momentous change. As we advance into the era of electric, connected, and autonomous vehicles, Nichols shows us why we should hit the brakes and look back in the rear-view mirror at this long and fascinating history. What is the role of the car in our lives? Should we be more skeptical of technology in our society? In Women Behind the Wheel, Nichols argues convincingly that only by understanding the many ways the car has changed us, can we hope to prepare ourselves for this brave new era.

Download or read book Lives for Sale written by Mark Bostridge and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2004-10-12 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a collection of new essays by many of the best biographers now writing in Britain, not only the established names, but also the rising stars of the profession. These biographers' tales, based on personal experience, tell of the ups and downs of life writing: of shocking discoveries and frustrating dead ends, strange literary hauntings and curses, bitter professional rivalries and problems with families and friends of biographical subjects, and of ways in which the biographer's imagination can be inspired by a sense of place or touch of a letter."--BOOK JACKET.

Download or read book The NextGen Guide to Car Collecting written by Robert C. Yeager and published by Motorbooks. This book was released on 2022-10-25 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Satisfy your dream collector-car desires with this one-stop reference for starting or expanding your collection beyond traditional classics and muscle cars. Focusing on the interests and needs of Generation X and Millennial car collectors, The NextGen Guide to Car Collecting offers a concise history of car collecting to present day, guidance on car buying and living the car-collector life, and an overview of collector cars with a focus on cars built from the 1970s through the 1990s while also touching on more contemporary cars. Chapters highlight Japanese, American, and European cars, particularly those models that have experienced the greatest growth in collector interest over the past decade. The NextGen Guide to Car Collecting explores the many ways the Internet and social media have changed the classic car marketplace. You’ll learn how to buy a classic car online without suffering buyer’s remorse, as well as the four critical keys to a happy collector-vehicle relationship: 1) possessing discretionary cash for the initial purchase; 2) obtaining a thorough knowledge of the car and its ownership; 3) the critical pre-purchase inspection; and 4) access to a work space. You’ll also find out why the popularity of late twentieth-century specialty cars will continue to grow (think increasing electronic complication and the still-large number of enthusiasts for whom “self-driving” means driving themselves) and explore the attributes that makes these cars desirable collector vehicles. In addition, the book looks at the significant increases in quality and reliability of post-1970s machines and how that impacts their collectibility. Finally, learn why expectations that your newfound classic could outlast our current crop of lithium-ion-dependent electric cars may not be unrealistic: recent developments like ride-hailing and sharing services; expanded public transit; rental bikes and scooters; and garage condos and other storage options could actually extend the life of your “new” classic permitting you to truly tailor the use of your classics. Whether your collection requires a one-stall garage or a pole barn, the practical, useful information and keen perspective of The NextGen Guide to Car Collecting will ensure you pull this volume from your shelf time and again.

Download or read book 24 Hours written by Richard Williams and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-05-25 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning writer Richard Williams tells the remarkable story of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the world's most iconic motorsports events, which celebrates its centenary in 2023. The event was created by a group of Frenchmen in 1923 and remains uniquely compelling to spectators, to the major motor manufacturers who continue to see it as an opportunity for priceless publicity, as well as to drivers hoping to add their names to its distinguished roll of honour. Between the wars, those manufacturers included Bugatti, Bentley and Alfa Romeo. Subsequently, Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Ford, Porsche, Audi and Toyota have all been serial winners, guaranteeing the continuation of ferocious inter-marque rivalry. Over the decades the race acquired a rich folklore, including stories of leaking petrol tanks being sealed with chewing gum, one competitor making his last pit-stop for a fill-up and a glass of champagne, or the woman who drove her MG through the night wearing a fur coat. Competitors have included princes, debutantes, drug smugglers and a Nazi spy. Leading Hollywood film-makers lured to the romance of the race include Steve McQueen, who conceived and starred in Le Mans in 1971, and James Mangold, who made Le Mans ’66 in 2019. But in 1955 it had also been the scene of the greatest tragedy ever to befall motor racing, when 82 people were killed by a competing car, an accident that for a while threatened the sport’s entire future. From the Bentley Boys of the 1920s, through record-breaking multiple winners Jacky Ickx and Tom Kristensen to modern stars such as Allan McNish, 24 Hours celebrates the skill, courage and technical brilliance of the men and women who gave the race its worldwide renown.

Download or read book Making the Most of Mess written by Emery Roe and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-27 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Making the Most of Mess, Emery Roe emphasizes that policy messes cannot be avoided or cleaned up; they need to be managed. He shows how policymakers and other professionals can learn these necessary skills from control operators who manage large critical infrastructures such as water supplies, telecommunications systems, and electricity grids. The ways in which they prevent major accidents and failures offer models for policymakers and other professionals to manage the messes they face. Throughout, Roe focuses on the global financial mess of 2008 and its ongoing aftermath, showing how mismanagement has allowed it to morph into other national and international messes. More effective management is still possible for this and many other policy messes but that requires better recognition of patterns and formulation of scenarios, as well as the ability to translate pattern and scenario into reliability. Developing networks of professionals who respond to messes is particularly important. Roe describes how these networks enable the avoidance of bad or worse messes, take advantage of opportunities resulting from messes, and address societal and professional challenges. In addition to finance, he draws from a wide range of case material in other policy arenas. Roe demonstrates that knowing how to manage policy messes is the best approach to preventing crises.

Download or read book The Wandering Princess written by Edward W. Hanson and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2017-05-13 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Helene was a strong-willed princess, raised in France but closely connected with the court of Queen Victoria. After the premature end to a romance with Victoria's grandson, she married into the royal family of Italy. However, Helene began extended adventuresome trips into Africa where she became a big-game hunter, explorer and travel writer, escaping from an unhappy marriage and the boredom of court life. Her travels took her around the world, but her sense of royal duty brought her back to nurse aboard a hospital ship in Libyan waters, then to an important role as head of the Italian Red Cross nurses during the First World War while her husband headed Italy's Third Army, and her two sons served in the artillery and the navy. Afterwards, her strong Italian nationalism made her an ally to Gabriele d'Annunzio and Benito Mussolini, but the disastrous Second World War saw her grandchildren interned in Austria and her older son die as a British prisoner-of-war while she continued her charitable work in Naples. When the country voted to become a republic in 1946, Helene was the only member of the royal family allowed to remain in Italy with her second 'secret' husband.

Download or read book In Byron s Wake The Turbulent Lives of Lord Byron s Wife and Daughter Annabella Milbanke and Ada Lovelace written by Miranda Seymour and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-11-06 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A masterful portrait of two remarkable women, revealing how two turbulent lives were always haunted by the dangerously enchanting, quicksilver spirit of that extraordinary father whom Ada never knew: Lord Byron. In 1815, the clever, courted, and cherished Annabella Milbanke married the notorious and brilliant Lord Byron. Just one year later, she fled, taking with her their baby daughter, the future Ada Lovelace. Byron himself escaped into exile and died as a revolutionary hero in 1824, aged 36. The one thing he had asked his wife to do was to make sure that their daughter never became a poet. Ada didn’t. Brought up by a mother who became one of the most progressive reformers of Victorian England, Byron’s little girl was introduced to mathematics as a means of calming her wild spirits. Educated by some of the most learned minds in England, she combined that scholarly discipline with a rebellious heart and a visionary imagination. As a child invalid, Ada dreamed of building a steam-driven flying horse. As an exuberant and boldly unconventional young woman, she amplified her explanations of Charles Babbage’s unbuilt calculating engine to predict—as nobody would do for another century—the dawn of the modern computer age. When Ada died—like her father, she was only 36—great things seemed still to lie ahead for her as a passionate astronomer. Even while mired in debt from gambling and crippled by cancer, she was frenetically employing Faraday’s experiments with light refraction to explore the analysis of distant stars. Drawing on fascinating new material, Seymour reveals the ways in which Byron, long after his death, continued to shape the lives and reputations both of his wife and his daughter. During her life, Lady Byron was praised as a paragon of virtue; within ten years of her death, she was vilified as a disgrace to her sex. Well over a hundred years later, Annabella Milbanke is still perceived as a prudish wife and cruelly controlling mother. But her hidden devotion to Byron and her tender ambitions for his mercurial, brilliant daughter reveal a deeply complex but unexpectedly sympathetic personality. Miranda Seymour has written a masterful portrait of two remarkable women, revealing how two turbulent lives were often governed and always haunted by the dangerously enchanting, quicksilver spirit of that extraordinary father whom Ada never knew.

Download or read book Mary Shelley written by Miranda Seymour and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2011-06-16 with total page 565 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mary Shelley's own life was as dramatic as her fiction. Even had she not (at the age of 19) authored Frankenstein, one of the greatest horror fables in literature, she would be crucial to the study of Romanticism, as the daughter of two of the great radical thinkers of the day, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft (who died following Mary's birth); and as the second Mrs Percy Bysshe Shelley, her companion for that stormy stay at Byron's Geneva villa in 1816 - the 'haunted summer' that begat Frankenstein. Drawing on unexplored sources, Miranda Seymour's hugely acclaimed biography penetrates the myth to offer the fullest, richest portrait of this extraordinary woman. 'Mary Shelley is the most dazzling biography of a female writer to have come my way for an entire decade.' Financial Times 'Brilliant and enthralling, this portrait illuminates Mary's life in many unexpected ways.' Independent on Sunday 'Miranda Seymour has vivid narrative gifts and a perceptive understanding of the main personalities.' New York Times Book Review 'A thoughtfully considered and exceptionally lifelike portrait of a complex and often misunderstood character.' Los Angeles Times 'A harrowing life, wonderfully retold.' Washington Post Book World 'A splendid biography.' New Yorker

Download or read book Glamour written by Stephen Gundle and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-07-16 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Glamour is one of the most tantalizing and bewitching aspects of contemporary culture - but also one of the most elusive. The aura of celebrity, the style of the fashion world, the vanity of the rich and beautiful, and the publicity-driven rites of café society are all imbued with its irresistible magnetism. But what exactly is glamour? Where does it come from? How old is it? And can anyone quite capture its magic? Stephen Gundle answers all these questions and more in this first ever history of the phenomenon, from Paris in the tumultuous final decades of the eighteenth century through to Hollywood, New York, and Monte Carlo in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, from Napoleon to Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe, from Beau Brummell to Gianni Versace. Throughout, the book captures the excitement and sex appeal of glamour while exposing its mechanisms and exploring its sleazy and sometimes tragic underside. As Gundle shows, while glamour is exciting and magnetic, its promise is ultimately an illusion that can only ever be partially fulfilled.

Download or read book Eat My Dust written by Georgine Clarsen and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2008-08-26 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of the automobile would be incomplete without considering the influence of the car on the lives and careers of women in the earliest decades of the twentieth century. Illuminating the relationship between women and cars with case studies from across the globe, Eat My Dust challenges the received wisdom that men embraced automobile technology more naturally than did women. Georgine Clarsen highlights the personal stories of women from the United States, Britain, Australia, and colonial Africa from the early days of motoring until 1930. She notes the different ways in which these women embraced automobile technology in their national and cultural context. As mechanics and taxi drivers -- like Australian Alice Anderson and Brit Sheila O'Neil -- and long-distance adventurers and political activists -- like South Africans Margaret Belcher and Ellen Budgell and American suffragist Sara Bard Field -- women sought to define the technology in their own terms and according to their own needs. They challenged traditional notions of femininity through their love of cars and proved they were articulate, confident, and mechanically savvy motorists in their own right. More than new chapters in automobile history, these stories locate women motorists within twentieth-century debates about class, gender, sexuality, race, and nation. -- Deborah Clarke

Download or read book Chaplin s Girl written by Miranda Seymour and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-05-05 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1931, City Lightsintroduced Charlie Chaplin's new female star to the world. The film - defiantly silent in the age of talkies - was an immediate and international hit. The actress who played the romantic lead had never been on screen or stage before. Chaplin's film turned her into the most famous girl in the world. And, like Rhett Butler, the most famous girl in the world didn't give a damn. Virginia Cherrill was the beautiful daughter of an Illinois rancher, who ran away to live through some of Hollywood's wildest years. She was the adoring first wife who broke Cary Grant's heart when she left him; who turned down the gloriously eligible Maharajah of Jaipur to befriend his wife and rescue her from purdah. Virginia Cherrill presided, during the thirties, over one of England's loveliest houses, as the Countess of Jersey. Everybody sought her friendship. All that eluded her was love. And when she found it, she gave up all she had to marry a handsome and penniless Polish flying ace, whose dream it was to become a cowboy. In this glorious, and undiscovered story of Hollywood, international high society, wartime drama and romance, Miranda Seymour works from unpublished sources to recapture the personality of a woman so vividly enchanting that none could resist her. This is the story of Cinderalla in reverse: of the poor girl who won everything - and gave up all for love. Breathtakingly romantic, exquisitely written, this is the stuff that dreams are made of . . .

Download or read book Noble Endeavours written by Miranda Seymour and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-08-29 with total page 663 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1613 a beautiful Stuart princess married a handsome young German prince. This was a love match, but it was also an alliance that aimed to weld together Europe's two great Protestant powers. Before Elizabeth and Frederick left London for the court in Heidelberg, they watched a performance of The Winter's Tale. In 1943, a group of British POWS gave a performance of that same play to a group of enthusiastic Nazi guards in Bavaria. When the amateur actors suggested doing a version of The Merchant of Venice that showed Shylock as the hero, the guards brought in the costumes and helped create the sets. Nothing about the story of England and Germany, as this remarkable book demonstrates, is as simple as we might expect. A shared faith, a shared hunger for power, a shared culture (Germany never doubted that Shakespeare belonged to them, as much as to England); a shared leadership. German monarchs ruled over England for three hundred years - and only ceased to do so through a change of name. Miranda Seymour has written a rich and heart-breaking story that needs to be heard: the vibrant, extraordinary history - told through the lives of kings and painters, soldiers and sailors, sugar-bakers and bankers, charlatans and saints - of two countries so entwined that one man, asked for his allegiance in 1916, said he didn't know because it felt as though his parents had quarrelled. Thirteen years of Nazi power can never be forgotten. But should thirteen years blot out four centuries of a profound, if rivalrous, friendship? Speaking in 1984, a remarkable Jew who fought for Germany in one war and for England in the next called for an end to the years of mistrust. Quarter of a century later, that mistrust remains as strong as ever and Hitler remains Germany's most familiar face. The stories that Miranda Seymour has recovered from a wealth of unpublished material and exceptional sources, remind us, poignantly, wittily and tragically, of all that we have chosen to forget.