The World Encyclopaedia of Racing Drivers is a remarkable work of unprecedented scale that charts the lives and achievements of over 2,500 racing drivers from 1894 to the present day, from all eras and countries. As well as featuring the many great champions who have graced the world’s circuits, this three-volume set also highlights numerous obscure and little-known characters who have made the sport so compelling. The result of many years of endeavour by a dedicated author, this work breaks new ground in motor racing research and will be treasured by anyone interested in the history of the sport.

• Containing nearly a million words, this is a biographical reference, a reliable source of statistics, a diverse collection of portrait photographs and a mine of factual information.
• The unheralded characters: a racing suicide, drug-running, industrial espionage, an elopement in a race-winning car, film stars in racing.
• Every driver to have featured in the Formula 1 World Championship, as well as pre-war Grand Prix stars.
• The leading drivers in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Indianapolis, plus race winners in Indycars and NASCAR.
• National and international champions from all parts of the globe.

Each entry includes key race and championship wins alongside biographical information.

Specification

• ISBN: 978-1-910505-07-6
• Format: 270 x 210mm
• Three volumes, jacketed hardbacks, slipcase
• Page extent: 1,048pp
• Illustration: 2,400 photographs

The author

Peter Higham works in motor racing as a freelance writer and project manager. For nearly 30 years he worked for Haymarket Consumer Media, the publisher of motor racing magazines and websites, and he continues to be the event director of the prestigious Autosport Awards. For half of that period he was director of LAT Photographic, which is the world’s largest motor racing photo archive. A motor racing enthusiast since watching his first race in 1973, he has written three previous books on the subject, including the award-winning International Motor Racing Guide.

Reviews

“We’ve had Nick Georgano’s Complete Encyclopaedia of Motor Cars since the late 1960s, and now at last there’s a reference work to sit comfortably alongside it on the bookshelf. We recommend it without hesitation.”

Octane (‘Book of the Month’)

“Leafing through the pages, names keep cropping up from not so long ago but who are now largely forgotten. ‘Oh yes! I remember him,’ is a frequent reaction and you read on, in many cases to discover how careers came to an end and what happened next.”

BRDC Bulletin

“Former Autosport staffer Peter Higham has compiled this incredible, 1000-page collection of 2500 racing driver profiles. With almost one million words, the three-volume tome, which comes in a sturdy slipcase, offers an invaluable research tool for motorsport history lovers – everybody who was/is anybody in international racing is here, with key biographical and statistical info.”

Autosport

“All the greats from a diverse range of formulae and eras are covered, but the joy is reading about lesser-known pilots. The fascinating biographies of Luigi Arcangeli, who died practiSing the challenging 12-cylinder Alfa Tipo A, and Juan Zanelli, the Chilean Bugatti driver who later joined the Resistance and was killed in a gunfight with the Gestapo, are typical. You will be continually dipping into it, as well as using it as a vital reference aid. Guaranteed to become a sell-out collector’s item.”

Classic & Sports Car (‘Book of the Month’)

“It’s increasingly rare to find books that break new ground – and this one would also likely break your foot, should ever you drop it… Motor Sport’s office library is dense – and a select few works are regarded as infinitely more useful than their neighbours. This has just been added to that list.”

Motor Sport