The motoring age - Peter Thorold

In the forty years before the Second World War Britain was changed for ever by the automobile. This rich, evocative and entertaining book charts that transformation. At first motoring was a sport, the car a plaything of the rich - think King Edward and Mr Toad. Soon motor transport - its value confirmed many times over in the war - became central to the economy. The automobile became an instrument of civilization and rejuvenated countryside, towns and villages left derelict by agricultural depression. The car was a symbol of individual liberty for men - and women; it was glamorous and stylish and sexy too.