From Coveralls to Zoot Suits: The Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II Home Front

From Coveralls to Zoot Suits: The Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II Home Front

During World War II, unprecedented employment avenues opened up for women and minorities in U.S. defense industries at the same time that massive population shifts and the war challenged Americans to rethink notions of race. At this extraordinary historical moment, Mexican American women found new means to exercise control over their lives in the home, workplace, and nation. In From Coveralls to Zoot Suits, Elizabeth R. Escobedo explores how, as war workers and volunteers, dance hostesses and zoot suiters, respectable young ladies and rebellious daughters, these young women used wartime conditions to serve the United States in its time of need and to pursue their own desires.
But even after the war, as Escobedo shows, Mexican American women had to continue challenging workplace inequities and confronting family and communal resistance to their broadening public presence. Highlighting seldom heard voices of the “Greatest Generation,” Escobedo examines these contradictions within Mexican families and their communities, exploring the impact of youth culture, outside employment, and family relations on the lives of women whose home-front experiences and everyday life choices would fundamentally alter the history of a generation.

The Stewardship of Historically Important Automobiles

The Stewardship of Historically Important Automobiles

The idea of stewardship – the ownership of a historical automobile during one’s lifetime – has recently gained the focus that it has always deserved.

This selfless consideration of preserving the original machines is presented by the foremost authors, museum directors and collectors of our time, led by the visionary Miles Collier and Fred Simeone. These world renowned automotive academicians are joined by Ed Gilbertson, Evan Ide, Leigh Keno and Leslie Keno, L. Scott George, Mark Gessler and others whose unique viewpoints spell out the need for proper preservation of our automotive treasures.

Illustrated with almost 200 historic photographs, documents and modern imagery, this book explores many of the issues associated with the ownership of historically important automobiles. Topics include: provenance; patina and false patination; reversible restoration; over-restoration; dealing with older restorations, the definition of a historically important automobile, and many other thought provoking issues.

This book will certainly encourage serious conversation on this controversial subject, and is a must for any sincere collector of automobiles.

The Stewardship of Historically Important Automobiles achieved the distinction of “Publication of the Year” at the International Historic Motoring Awards in London, November 2013.

Dr. Fred Simeone passed away in June, just a few days after his 86th birthday. His legacy is presented in this re-release of this important book, available in this memorial edition.

Bugatti Type 35 Owners’ Workshop Manual: 1924 onwards (all models)

Bugatti Type 35 Owners’ Workshop Manual: 1924 onwards (all models)

An insight into the design, engineering, maintenance and operation of Bugatti’s iconic pre-war grand prix car (Haynes Manuals)

The Type 35 Bugatti brought new standards of workmanship and finish to racing and was the first Grand Prix car to be catalogued and offered for sale.  This Bugatti Type 35 Owners’ Workshop Manual contains the Bugatti Story and is an addition to our growing range of classic racing car manuals.  Being a sister title to our Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Owner’s Workshop Manual, and having input from respected restorers and owners, the book contains sections covering variants, competition history, anatomy, view from drivers, owners and engineers, restoration and historic racing results.

Wally Dallenbach: Steward of the Sport

Wally Dallenbach: Steward of the Sport

Celebrated author Gordon Kirby traces the long and significant life of Wally Dallenbach whose contributions to the sport of automobile racing have been enormous over the 50 years of his remarkable career.

Lotus 79 1977 onwards (all models)

Lotus 79 1977 onwards (all models)

An insight into the design, engineering and operation of the pioneering Lotus ground-effect Formula 1 car

The Lotus 79, with its classic JPS black and gold sponsorship colours, was the first F1 car to fully exploit the potential of ground-effect aerodynamics. Designed by Colin Chapman and his engineering team, the Lotus 79 dominated the 1978 World Championship, taking US driver Mario Andretti with his only F1 World Championship.

Handley Page Halifax 1939 onwards (all marks) (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

Handley Page Halifax 1939 onwards (all marks) (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

The Halifax became the second of the new generation of four-engine heavy bombers to enter service with RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War. It flew its first offensive operation in March 1941 and by 1944 it had become the exclusive equipment for Bomber Command’s 4 Group and 6 (Canadian) Group, as well as being used in smaller numbers by 100 (Bomber Support) Group. The Halifax flew on virtually all the main raids of the night offensive between 1942 and 1945 and the last occasion when Bomber Command Halifaxes operated in strength against the enemy was on 25 April 1945.

Fairey Swordfish 1934 to 1945 (all marks): An insight into the history, development, production and role of the Second World War biplane torpedo bomber (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

Fairey Swordfish 1934 to 1945 (all marks): An insight into the history, development, production and role of the Second World War biplane torpedo bomber (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

Affectionately known as the ‘Stringbag’ by its crews, the Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bomber was obsolete by 1939, but it still achieved some spectacular successes during the Second World War, including the famous crippling of the German battleship Bismarck in 1941. The centrepiece of this manual is Swordfish Mk II, LS326, operated by the Royal Navy Historic Flight from RNAS Yeovilton. The author and Haynes have been given unique access to this rare aircraft, which is one of only two airworthy examples in the world.

Short Stirling1939-48 (all marks): An insight into the design, construction and operation of the RAF’s first four-engine heavy bomber of the Second World War (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

Short Stirling1939-48 (all marks): An insight into the design, construction and operation of the RAF’s first four-engine heavy bomber of the Second World War (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

Of the RAF’s trio of four engines heavy bombers in the Second World War, the mighty Short Stirling was the first to enter service in August 1940. A total of 2,371 Stirlings were eventually built and flown by the RAF before the type was finally withdrawn from service in July 1946. From its first raid in February 1941 the Stirling was at the forefront of the night offensive against Germany. At the peak of its operational career with Bomber Command in 1943, 12 squadrons were equipped with giant bomber before unacceptably high losses forced its relegation to second line duties.

Routemaster Bus Manual – 1954 onwards (all marks): An insight into maintaining and operating the iconic vehicle of the British transport network

Routemaster Bus Manual – 1954 onwards (all marks): An insight into maintaining and operating the iconic vehicle of the British transport network

The Routemaster bus – instantly recognisable as the classic red double-decker London Transport bus – is a British icon, and a symbol unmistakably associated with London. Now the Routemaster receives the famous Haynes Manual treatment. This book provides a unique perspective on owning, restoring and operating a Routemaster, as well as an insight into the design, development and anatomy of this remarkably resilient machine, which saw continuous service in London for over 45 years.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird: 1964 onwards (all marks) (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird: 1964 onwards (all marks) (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

SOLD OUT

Throughout its 34-year Cold War career with the USAF and CIA, the top secret Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane was the world’s fastest and highest-flying operational manned aircraft. Dedicated to strategic reconnaissance, the Blackbird was so fast that no other aircraft could catch it. The co-authors are world authorities on the Blackbird and give rare insights into the secret world of the SR-71, its genesis, construction and anatomy (including its use of stealth technology), and its operation and maintenance in peace and war.

De Havilland Mosquito: 1940 onwards (all marks) – An insight into developing, flying, servicing and restoring Britain’s legendary ‘Wooden Wonder’ fighter-bomber (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

De Havilland Mosquito: 1940 onwards (all marks) – An insight into developing, flying, servicing and restoring Britain’s legendary ‘Wooden Wonder’ fighter-bomber (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

Nicknamed the ‘wooden wonder’ , the de Havilland Mosquito was one of the most versatile and successful combat aircraft of the Second World War. Offering insights into the design, construction and operational career of the iconic Mossie, this manual gets under the aircraft’s birch and balsa skin to examine its anatomy and describe the painstaking restoration to flight by Avspecs (New Zealand) of Jerry Yagen’s FB26 KA114 and of Victoria Air Maintenance’s B35 VR796 in British Columbia, Canada.

Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany

Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany

The inspiration for the major Apple TV+ series, streaming now!

The riveting history of the American Eighth Air Force in World War II and the young men who flew the bombers that helped beat the Nazis and liberate Europe, brilliantly told by historian and World War II expert Donald L. Miller. The Masters of the Air streaming series stars Austin Butler and Callum Turner, and is produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the legendary duo behind Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

Masters of the Air is the deeply personal story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler’s doorstep. With the narrative power of fiction, Donald Miller takes you on a harrowing ride through the fire-filled skies over Berlin, Hanover, and Dresden and describes the terrible cost of bombing for the German people. Masters of the Air is the deeply personal story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler’s doorstep. With the narrative power of fiction, Donald Miller takes you on a harrowing ride through the fire-filled skies over Berlin, Hanover, and Dresden and describes the terrible cost of bombing for the German people.

Fighting at 25,000 feet in thin, freezing air that no warriors had ever encountered before, bomber crews battled new kinds of assaults on body and mind. Air combat was deadly but intermittent: periods of inactivity and anxiety were followed by short bursts of fire and fear. Unlike infantrymen, bomber boys slept on clean sheets, drank beer in local pubs, and danced to the swing music of Glenn Miller’s Air Force band, which toured US air bases in England. But they had a much greater chance of dying than ground soldiers.

The bomber crews were an elite group of warriors who were a microcosm of America—white America, anyway. The actor Jimmy Stewart was a bomber boy, and so was the “King of Hollywood,” Clark Gable. And the air war was filmed by Oscar-winning director William Wyler and covered by reporters like Andy Rooney and Walter Cronkite, all of whom flew combat missions with the men. The Anglo-American bombing campaign against Nazi Germany was the longest military campaign of World War II, a war within a war. Until Allied soldiers crossed into Germany in the final months of the war, it was the only battle fought inside the German homeland.

Masters of the Air is “a stunning achievement” (David McCullough), “a fresh new account” (Walter Boyne, former director of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum) of life in wartime England and in the German prison camps, where tens of thousands of airmen spent part of the war. It ends with a vivid description of the grisly hunger marches captured airmen were forced to make near the end of the war through the country their bombs destroyed.

Drawn from recent interviews, oral histories, and American, British, German, and other archives, Masters of the Air is an authoritative, deeply moving account that “accurately and comprehensively” (Lt. Gen. Bernard E. Trainor, USMC (Ret.) and coauthor of Cobra II) tells of the world’s first and only bomber war.

Texas Legend: Jim Hall and his Chaparrals

Texas Legend: Jim Hall and his Chaparrals

COMING JULY 2024

One of the greatest drivers of his generation, Jim Hall is even better known as an innovator. From tiny Chaparral Cars in Midland, Texas emerged a series of vehicles that changed the face of racing. His high-winged Chaparral 2E Can-Am car and 2F World Sportscar Championship contender may be the most influential race vehicles of the 20th century. Today, every Formula 1 car uses net downforce, driver-adjustable wings, composite chassis, side-mounted radiators, semi-automatic gearboxes and advanced telemetry to optimize vehicle performance — all things Chaparral pioneered in the mid-1960s.

  • First-ever book in which Hall tells his own story.
  • The massive influence of his introduction of net downforce to racing, which is now incorporated into the design of every major type of four-wheel competition vehicle.
  • How Hall shocked the world with innovative designs that won in every series in which they competed, including Can-Am, Trans-Am, the World Sportscar Championship, Formula 5000, United States Road Racing Championship, Canadian Sports Car Championship and the Indianapolis 500.
  • How Jim and John Barnard created the Chaparral 2K “Yellow Submarine” that won the Indianapolis 500 and USAC national championship, setting the template for the modern Indy car.
  • The massive resistance Jim faced from teams and sanctioning bodies intent on outlawing his legal but game-changing innovations. 
  • The connection to Chevrolet and the crucial role Chaparral Cars played in the defense of GM during the Corvair trials of the mid-1960s.
  • How Hall became a national celebrity, with Newsweek and Sports Illustrated covers, Coca-Cola commercials, and millions of “Jim Hall Authorized” slot cars and model kits.
  • Text based on the author’s extensive interviews with over 100 racing standouts, including Jim and Sandy Hall, Roger Penske, Jackie Stewart, Dan Gurney, Sam Posey, Brian Redman, Phil Hill, Al and Bobby Unser, Bernie Ecclestone, Johnny Rutherford, Gordon Murray, Adrian Newey, Gil de Ferran, Mario Andretti, Bob Lutz and Tony Southgate.
  • Big, beautiful and packed with facts and anecdotes, the book is lavishly illustrated with period photographs by many of the world’s best motorsports photographers, including Pete Biro, Bernard Cahier, Hal Crocker, Dave Friedman, Pete Lyons, Dan Boyd, Lionel Birnbom and Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Jackson.

In Texas Legend, Jim Hall tells his story — his life, his cars, his relationship with Chevrolet, his partnership with Hap Sharp, his battles with sanctioning body bureaucracies — for the first time to award-winning author George Levy in this authorized biography.

Nash-Healey A Grand Alliance

Nash-Healey A Grand Alliance

COMING EARLY 2024

Nash-Healey – A Grand Alliance examines in exquisite and exacting detail the story behind America’s first postwar sports car and the unique Anglo-American partnership between Nash and Healey that gave it life, which became an international triumvirate with the later involvement of famed Italian coachbuilder Pinin Farina.

Focusing on the lives and careers of the men behind these fantastic machines, this book dives into their prior accomplishments, before reviewing the design and development of the Nash-Healey roadsters and coupes. It also explores the marque’s incredible competition record at iconic races like the Mille Miglia, 24 Hours of Le Mans and Alpine and Monte Carlo rallies. Lavishly illustrated with almost 1,200 images, most never before published, including several from Donald Healey’s own personal photographic collection, this book is essential for all Nash-Healey enthusiasts and fans of sports cars from the breed’s golden era.

  • 2-volume set in slipcase
  • 800 pages
  • 1,192 illustrations
  • Foreword by Donald Osborne
Desert Cats: The RAF’s Jaguar Force in the First Gulf War

Desert Cats: The RAF’s Jaguar Force in the First Gulf War

On 2 August 1990, Saddam Hussein’s armed forces invaded and occupied Kuwait. A swift international response followed, which, led by the United States and the United Kingdom, saw the formation of a coalition that formed the largest military alliance seen since the end of the Second World War.

Among the many RAF units deployed under Operation Granby, the codename given to the British military operations during the conflict, was 41 Squadron, with elements taken from 54 Squadron and 226 OCU, which was equipped with the ubiquitous Jaguar GR1 single-seat all-weather tactical strike and ground-attack fighter. In late 1990, the squadron duly despatched a total of twelve aircraft, which soon became known for their distinctive desert pink camouflage, and twenty-two pilots from their base at RAF Coltishall.

Initially conducting low-level strikes, for which the Jaguar Force had always been intended, over the weeks that followed 41 Squadron switched to more unusual medium-level missions. In total, the men and machines of 41 Squadron conducted a total of 617 sorties during Operation Granby.

To complete this remarkable description of 41 Squadron’s part in the liberation of Kuwait, the author has interviewed a number of these pilots. As well as these veterans’ personal reflections, Danny Burt also explores the Jaguars’ record on air-to-ground combat and its performance in theatre, the various upgrades the type receive, and the unique nose art that each aircraft carried. Many of the pictures in this highly illustrated publication have never been published before.

The story is completed by the recovery by the author of one of the Jaguar GR1s flown in the Gulf War Rescued from an Army range in South Wales, the aircraft was moved to RAF Coningsby where its restoration, including the return of its Operation Granby camouflage, is underway.

Vauxhall Cars: 1945 to 1995 (A Pictorial History)

Vauxhall Cars: 1945 to 1995 (A Pictorial History)

A comprehensive pictorial history of all Vauxhall cars produced from 1945 up to and including models in production in 1995. This really is the ‘go-to’ publication if you need to compare your Vivas, Victors, Ventoras or Viceroys!

Breaking down the many models into several chapters, this is a trip down memory lane for any postwar car enthusiast. Comprehensively illustrated, the book includes line drawings, black & white plus colour period photographs, together with interior detail. All models are covered along with sports derivatives, limited editions, vans, estates, coupes. It includes a section on motor sport achievements and TV/movie appearances. Contemporary factory advertising slogans used is key throughout. Complimenting the historical content, technical specifications, key production changes and build figures are also detailed.

Trevor Alder has been driving Vauxhalls and Opels for many years and has previously written and compiled several Vauxhall/Opel publications from his massive self-indexed magazine archive. The research for this book suggests this a bookshelf-must for anyone interested in a slice of Britain’s motoring heritage.

VESPA All the models: Updated edition

VESPA All the models: Updated edition

The most comprehensive and up to date catalogue of every Vespa model ever published.

This revised edition includes all the models introduced since the last edition was released in 2020, as ever subdivided into large and small frame categories. Among these new versions are the 125 and 300 GTS 75th Anniversary, the 125 and 300 GTS trim variants and the 50, 125, and 150 models, here too detailed in their various liveries. This new, systematic catalogue is completed by the 946 and, naturally, the Vespa Elettrica, the great innovation of recent years.

The celebrated scooter was born at Pontedera in the post-war period and went on to feature in one of the most extraordinary stories ever to have involved an industrial product.

This book presents an overview unique in the completeness and wealth of its information regarding every model produced: a reference work of particular interest to users, collectors, and all Vespa enthusiasts.

Truth, Lies, and O-Rings: Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

Truth, Lies, and O-Rings: Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

What they didn’t want you to know

“We all watched in shock and disbelief when Challenger was lost. Probably no one felt more disappointment and regret than Allan McDonald, who had warned us not to launch that day. His story tells of loss, grief, and the eventual rebuilding and recovery.”–Robert “Hoot” Gibson, former Space Shuttle pilot and commander

“A major contribution to a difficult episode in the history of human spaceflight.”–Roger D. Launius, Division of Space History, Smithsonian Institution

“McDonald tells the heartbreaking tale of how he saw his words of warning ignored, and the fateful consequences of that decision.”–Donald C. Elder III, Eastern New Mexico University

On a cold January morning in 1986, NASA launched the Space Shuttle Challenger, despite warnings against doing so by many individuals, including Allan McDonald. The fiery destruction of Challenger on live television moments after launch remains an indelible image in the nation’s collective memory.

In Truth, Lies, and O-Rings, McDonald, a skilled engineer and executive, relives the tragedy from where he stood at Launch Control Center.  As he fought to draw attention to the real reasons behind the disaster, he was the only one targeted for retribution by both NASA and his employer, Morton Thiokol, Inc., makers of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters. In this whistle-blowing yet rigorous and fair-minded book, McDonald, with the assistance of internationally distinguished aerospace historian James R. Hansen, addresses all of the factors that led to the accident, some of which were never included in NASA’s Failure Team report submitted to the Presidential Commission.

Truth, Lies, and O-Rings is the first look at the Challenger tragedy and its aftermath from someone who was on the inside, recognized the potential disaster, and tried to prevent it. It also addresses the early warnings of very severe debris issues from the first two post-Challenger flights, which ultimately resulted in the loss of Columbia some fifteen years later.

MiG Alley The US Air Force in Korea, 1950–53

MiG Alley The US Air Force in Korea, 1950–53

Titled after the wartime nickname for the part of North Korea that was the epicentre of a bitter struggle for air superiority over the Korean Peninsula, MiG Alley offers an in-depth analysis of the US Air Force’s war in Korea, packed with interesting and exciting personal stories based on first-person testimony from both American and Soviet sources.

Following the end of the Korean War, the prevailing myth in the West was that of the absolute supremacy of US Air Force pilots and aircraft over their Soviet-supplied opponents. The claims of the 10:1 victory-loss ratio achieved by the US Air Force fighter pilots flying the North American F-86 Sabre against their communist adversaries, among other such fabrications, went unchallenged until the end of the Cold War, when Soviet records of the conflict were finally opened.

Packed with first-hand accounts and covering the full range of US Air Force activities over Korea, MiG Alley brings the war vividly to life and the record is finally set straight on a number of popular fabrications. Thomas McKelvey Cleaver expertly threads together US and Russian sources to reveal the complete story of this bitter struggle in the Eastern skies.