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Drive On!: A Social History of the Motor Car (Hardcover)

by L.J.K. Setright (Author) "THE SOURCES OF INVENTION AND the tributaries of discovery seldom flow directly or rapidly towards those reservoirs of employment wherein pragmatic men acknowledge the genius..." (more)

4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Product details

Hardcover: 500 pages
Publisher: Granta Books; illustrated edition edition (1 Nov 2003)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1862076286
ISBN-13: 978-1862076280
Product Dimensions: 23.8 x 17.2 x 3.4 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 430,721 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

The Guardian

'The very best of these (social histories about the automobile) is...Leonard Setright’s Drive On!' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

George Rosie, Sunday Herald

'Setright is more than just any old motoring journalist: he’s the Wittgenstein of the motoring press' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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THE SOURCES OF INVENTION AND the tributaries of discovery seldom flow directly or rapidly towards those reservoirs of employment wherein pragmatic men acknowledge the genius of their prognostic mentors. Read the first page

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	81% buy the item featured on this page: Drive On!: A Social History of the Motor Car 4.8 out of 5 stars (4)
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews

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4 star:		(1)
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4.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An elegant dissertation, 3 Jan 2004

By A Customer

Anyone who was a regular reader of CAR magazine from 1966 until a year or two ago will need no introduction to the erudition, wit, and idiosyncratic style of LJKS. Which is now to be found in various newspapers. Look up a few of his articles on the internet and you'll see what I mean.

If you want to know the true meaning of the motor car, read this. On the way you will learn about the car's relationship to the French and American revolutions and discover that almost everything you thought you knew is wrong. I discovered that my school motto is a quote from Virgil's Aeneid - cf Chapter 3.

This is a serious and highly readable work well worth the investment.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a masterpiece, 27 Jun 2005

By	Mr. Malvern S. May "morphmay" (essex UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

this book deals with technical, global history, social change, in fact anything relevant to motoring. reading this book, you understand how the freedom that affordable private motoring produced has shaped society. LJK setright writes beatifully, and details why and when the technical milestones (disc brakes, front wheel drive, automatic transmission etc.) were introduced.
the book is richly written; in the 8 pages on air conditioning/heating the book veers of into the history of hone refrigeration and transnational chilled food transport.
there is more than enough to interest any car enthusiast; particularly if the engineering part of cars interests you.
it is well illustrated

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's nothing like this, 25 Sep 2007

By	casalingua@hotmail.com "casalingua" (Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drive On!: A Social History of the Motor Car (Paperback)

To be very honest there are very few motoring writers who can write well. And there seems only to have been one who could writing outstandingly well. LJK Setright was that one. This fine book is quite probably unique because it's a towering monument to a rich understanding of motor vehicles showing most clearly why an intelligent, cultured person might find them a worthy object of contemplation.

"Drive On!" rises above the mass of crass prose offered in the name of motoring journalism. Setright combines in a nearly unearthly fashion a monumental general erudition with a highly scholarly understanding of cars and the cultural forces that drove their development. It's an odd-shaped lens through which to view history, the car, but it makes for a perfectly valid one. And since the car has shaped us as much as we have shaped it, then understanding the car can help us understand the journey society has taken since the car became commonplace.

Possibly you won't agree with some of Setright's more libertarian views but he explains them well. Setright liked his guns and his Balkan Sobranie cigarettes, seeing both as rational choices of free individuals. So, you can see why the car fascinated him so much. There is naturally then a satisfactory concordance with his views on whom we elect and on the expression of our political will in how we elect to travel.

Setright explains with rare lucidity not just the engineering developments but the meaning of them. For example, speed interests Setright less than the quality of that speed and its linear control. His acute perceptions of how controls are to be understood contrasts with contemporary motoring writers who show little sensitivity to this. His comments on the rise of mass manufacturing offer a genuinely fascinating angle on the social history of the late industrial revolution. His pages on the role of General Motors and Ford Motor Company during WW2 ought to be read by anyone interested in the strange alliances made in times of conflict. This episode is a footnote in history I doubt these companies are interested in broadcasting further. Setright wrote the book for anyone with a curious mind and whether your interest is, technology, history or even sociology you'll find this book deserves a prominent position on your bookshelf.

As Setright writes in his introduction, "See how it strikes you."

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific book
An interesting book of great value to those who enjoy social history, as well as cars.

Published 4 months ago by Mr. Michael Mahon

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