The Bluebird and the Dead Lake The Classic Account of How Donald Campbell Broke the World Land Speed Record |
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Author:
| Pearson, John Williams, Richard |
Series title: | Sports Classics Ser. |
ISBN: | 978-1-78131-172-1 |
Publication Date: | Oct 2013 |
Publisher: | Quarto Publishing Group UK
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Imprint: | White Lion Publishing |
Book Format: | Paperback |
List Price: | USD $15.95 |
Book Description:
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In 1964, in Australia's remote outback, on the dazzling saltpan of Lake Eyre, Donald Campbell set out to drive his Bluebird car at over 400 miles an hour -- faster than any man in history. Things went wrong from the start: unseasonal rains, a sodden lake bed in which every high-speed run slewed dangerously, money running...
More Description
In 1964, in Australia's remote outback, on the dazzling saltpan of Lake Eyre, Donald Campbell set out to drive his Bluebird car at over 400 miles an hour -- faster than any man in history. Things went wrong from the start: unseasonal rains, a sodden lake bed in which every high-speed run slewed dangerously, money running short... even an Aboriginal curse. WIth death shimmering on the horizon before him, the lonely Campbell tried to hold his nerve until he broke the record. Campbell would lose his life eventually on Coniston Water, with over thirty years passing before his body was recovered in 2001, but this strangest -- and greatest -- of all his world record attempts was witnessed by a young reporter. John Pearson's classic book about Donald Campbell is an extraordinarily compelling and moving portrait of a modern tragic hero, fighting a battle with inhospitable elements and the outer limits of technology -- and, above all, with himself.