The Beagle has become synonymous with Charles Darwin and his groundbreaking title On the Origin of Species. But how did Darwin come to be on board? For the first time in a single volume all the various strands of the Beagle story have been woven together to reveal the circumstances that set the expedition in motion and the characters who circumnavigated the world together.Enriched with first-hand commentary from personal letters and diaries, and the offic...

BMW, that most performance-oriented of car companies, had no affordable sports roadster in its line-up before 1995. Stung into action by Mazda's revival of the classic two-seater roadster, the Germany company quickly staked its claim with the Z3, a classic long-nose, short-tail design that used existing BMW mechanical hardware to good effect. This new book tells the story of BMW's Z3 and Z4 two-seater roadsters and coupés, which since 1995 have been at the forefront of the affordable sport...

Designed by Mercedes's head of design Bruno Sacco, the W124 range immediately became the benchmark by which medium-sized car models were judged in the late 1980s due to its engineering excellence and high build quality. There was a model to suit every would-be-buyer, from the taxi driver through the family motorist and on to those who were willing and able to pay for luxury and performance. This book covers: design, development and manufacture of all models of W124 including estates, cabri...

A superstar athlete's inspiring autobiography—from his cricket-loving youth to the diagnosis of a career-ending heart condition and its aftermath.James Taylor was born in Burrough on the Hill, Leicestershire, in 1990. A sporting phenomenon from an early age, he chose to forge a life in cricket, establishing himself as one of the country's leading batsmen and an England regular.And then tragedy struck.In April 2016, a serious heart condition left Taylor...

A definitive guide to BMW's high-performance classic coupes, tracking their rising success from 1965 to 1989. After the doldrums of the post-war years, BMW had felt the need for a flagship grand touring coupe. The 507 of the late 1950s and the 3200 CS that replaced it in the early 1960s may not have made much money for the company, but they were a reminder of its aspirations. Then in 1964, a striking new coupe emerged from the building blocks of the latest saloon car range. The 2000 and 20...

The Rolls-Royce company acquired Bentley Motors in 1931 and, although models continued to be produced with the Bentley name, they increasingly used many Rolls-Royce components. By the time the Silver Cloud and Bentley S were released in 1955, they were really differently badged versions of the same design. Yet the sporting tradition of the Bentley marque was upheld with the exotic Continental models that were derived from them. The Silver Cloud family represents a pinnacle for the Rolls-Ro...

James Taylor remembers very well the disappointment among his petrol-head friends when the XJ-S was announced in 1975. It was not a replacement for the legendary E-type; its colours were uninspired; and its interior was drab. All credit, then, to those people at Jaguar who truly believed in the car and, over a period of nearly 20 years, turned the ugly duckling into a swan. From the moment the XJ-S HE arrived in 1981, there seemed to be renewed hope, and from then on, the car went from str...

BMW's M5 was a simple concept: a production 5 Series saloon re-developed for high performance by the Motorsport division. The M5 was the car that really initiated the legend of the M-cars from BMW; the letter M had been applied to a high-performance BMW as early as 1978, but that year's M1 was an exotic supercar. It had the right image, but the M1 was never going to bring in major profits. The M5 was much simpler in concept. It was and remains a production 5 Series saloon, redeveloped for ...

The second generation Range Rover was arguably Land Rover's first model designed as a luxury vehicle. It was a major leap for the company, but a very successful one as well. Despite controversy over its looks, and some initial teething problems, it became a worthy successor to the much-loved original. Range Rover Second Generation The Complete Story draws on the memories of designers and engineers as well as on a wide variety of factory sources to provide the most authoritative history of ...

The Catholic Church believes that when Adam sinned (Genesis chapter 3) his trespass caused a reign of death that ruled over all men. That view is correct (Romans 5:17). The Christian churches do not believe God would hold blameless men accountable Adam's sin, therefore they do not believe Adam's trespass caused death to reign over anyone. That is why the Christian churches refuse to teach that little babies must be baptized to take away Adam's sin. That view is absolutely reasonable, true,...

Few cars in recent years have inspired such devotion among enthusiasts as the BMW M3. Now entering its fifth generation, BMW's compact performance car is recognized worldwide as the benchmark of its type. BMW M3 - The Complete Story looks in detail at the first four generations of the M3, which arrived in the mid-1980s as an E30 'homologation special', intended to keep BMW ahead of rivals Mercedes-Benz on the racetracks. But the M3 soon became very much more than that. Before long, buyers ...

Land Rover Defender, 90 and 110 Range - 30 Years of the Coil-Spring 4x4 Models charts the evolution of the coil-sprung Defender vehicles. When Land Rover switched from leaf springs to coil springs for their utility models in 1983, it was a major step forward. The first coil-sprung model, the One Ten, replaced the Series III 109s. The short-wheelbase Ninety replaced the Series III 88s in 1984. From 1990, the models were all re-branded as Land Rover Defenders - 90, 110 and 140 - as the Land ...