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Long Lane with Turnings: Last Words of a Motoring Legend
 
 
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Long Lane with Turnings: Last Words of a Motoring Legend (Hardcover)

by James May (Afterword), L.J.K. Setright (Author), Michael Bywater (Introduction)
3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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Price For All Three: £27.67

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Granta Books; illustrated edition edition (4 Sep 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1862078726
  • ISBN-13: 978-1862078727
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13.8 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 230,627 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
  • Author of the critically acclaimed Drive On! A Social History of the Motor Car
  • Leonard Setright was one of the twentieth century's most influential and opinionated motoring journalists
  • A warm and quirky memoir about Setright's early years and his passion for all things automotive
  • 'The doyen of British Motoring writers, an idiosyncratic, eloquent, deeply informed, erudite enthusiast... He found it impossible to be boring' Alan Judd, Spectator
  • Praise for Drive On! A Social History of the Motor Car:
  • 'His fuel-injected eccentricities of opinion are as combustible as the internal combustion engines with which he is greasily familiar' The Times
    James May is the co-presenter of BBC's Top Gear programme and also one of the contributors of the Top Gear Magazine

    Product Description
    Leonard Setright was one of the twentieth century's most influential, opinionated and idiosyncratic motoring journalists; described as 'more Isaiah Berlin than Jeremy Clarkson', everything he wrote was inspired by his knowledge of and passion for all things automotive. "Long Lane with Turnings" is a dryly witty memoir of his early years and the author's last book, left unfinished at the time of his death in the summer of 2005. We encounter Setright as a child standing behind his father's driving seat in family Wolseley, enjoining him to 'Go fast!'; taking an early delight in machines of all sorts, from the camera-like precision of the Setright ticket machine for bus conductors (manufactured by his father's firm) to his first bicycle. We also see him developing that independence of mind which so characterized his writing as a critic: readers will savour his pitch-perfect descriptions of many of the cars that he drove, be it the Mini ('a very convincing little brick'), a Renault 4 ('swaying like a sailing dinghy in corners') or his beloved Bristols. The portrait of the writer which emerges from these pages is marvellously detailed, quirky and full of warmth.

    See all Product Description
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Long Lane with Turnings: Last Words of a Motoring Legend
68% buy the item featured on this page:
Long Lane with Turnings: Last Words of a Motoring Legend 3.6 out of 5 stars (5)
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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
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3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
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1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars You should have this book on your bookshelf, 3 Sep 2006
By J. J. Bowen (Wiltshire, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I first came across Mr Setright's writing in the early 1970s through his contributions to The Motorist's Bedside Book, a much loved volume that is still within my reach once in bed and it is often to one of his pieces that I turn to clear my mind before turning in.

I now have several other of his books, and they are all first rate. His ability to use words so well is a delight, and he used his independant position to tell us the truth as he saw it. If a car was bad he would say so and why, but his relish of a good vehicle, road or journey would leap from the page and take you along with him.

I did not realise that he had gone over to another world, having been out of the country at the time I now know he left us. It was only when Amazon suggested that I might like this book that I became aware that he had gone. This book is a fine, if slim, tribute to his life, and should inspire anyone who has not read him to buy some of his other works. I have no hesitation in recommending it; there is not much of it, but what there is is as neatly crafted as anything else he wrote, and it is an inexpensive purchase.

Of the younger generation of Motor Noters, James May stands head and shoulders above the rest as a writer of some culture and wit, and I thought that it was fitting he should be asked to write the afterword for this book.

In summary, I would give this book 4 out of 5 purely because it was not finished, and I feel that the author would have taken a similar view. It deserves 5 stars though, and it deserves a place on your bookshelves. Put it on your Christmas list if you must; it would make a fine stocking filler.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A fitting epitaph, 14 Oct 2006
What a shame Setright did not get a chance to finish this book, having sadly died in 2005. Here we see a very different writer to the one that dazzled many with his sheer breadth of knowledge in countless articles and books.

Here you have a warm account of Setrights early years as he devloped his interest in machinery. It is good to know that like many of us who grew to love cars from a nearly age that he ,like us , urges his father to put his foot down! This is only the first few chapters of Setrights biography but he is warm and candid in speaking of his family and his abandonment of the law for journalism. Anyone who reads this will be left wanting to know more about the man. To this end I would point them in the direction of his many other excellent and learned books.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A fragment, 31 Jul 2007
I agree with the reviewers below to an extent but this is a very unfinished book, indeed just a fragment of what would have been a fabulous story. I very much enjoyed all I read, but this book is very short and outrageously overpriced at full RSP and even the discount price on this website still represents poor value for money. Three stars is very generous considering the cost.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A QUIET MAN
This is a tantalus that cannot be undone. It does fulfil its promise of some insight into the making of this quiet but utterly singular man, but there should be so much more! Read more
Published 2 months ago by Aeolus

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointing fragment
A sad thing, this: some autobiographical fragments in a book bulked out by a contribution from the entertaining and thoughtful James May. Read more
Published 4 months ago by B. D. Elford

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