Revised and edited by Peter Browning for modern times, The Call Of Gold: True Tales On The Gold Road To Yosemite provides a selection of true tales in a chronicle of events affecting California's Mother Lode country during and after the Gold Rush. Newspapers of the time and interviews with early pioneers and their children provides many intimate, 'you are there' portraits which mixes interviews and pioneers voices with history. A lively read, Call of Gold will prove of interest to leisure readers as well as readers of California history and culture.

The first of a series of books published by Castrol on rallying. Ten top rallyists of the early 1970s - drivers, co-drivers, managers, organizers - contributed to help aspiring rallyists learn how to get involved in the sport. Chapters on driving, co-driving, car preparation, service, pace notes, and marathon rallying. There is a chapter by Stuart Turner on the future of rallying in the 1970s.

Also features rally car specifications, brief biographies of the top drivers and co-drivers of the ear, and International rally results beginning in 1960.

The first of the Castrol Rally Manuals is the best for the beginner, while the later editions include more details for the active rallyist or rally fan.

A must for any Vintage Rally fan.

More in depth reviews of out-of-print rally books may be found on VintageRally.com and FlyingFinns.com.

Two years ago I took my first vacation all by myself. I had a brand new car, a little money, and a lot of time. I found this book while browsing and bought it to take it on my vacation. Each night, I selected a different trip for the next day, highlighted the route, and studied the points of interest I'd be most interested in taking. This small amount of planning gave me great confidence to strike out alone on my vacation.

One year ago, I took a similar vacation, this time with a very special friend. We repeated some of my favorite trips of the previous year and we planned a few new ones. Again, we would spend the evening marking maps and studying points of interest.

"Roaming the Backroads" was so useful on these two trips because the author gave maps, historical information and points of interest along the way. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to explore Northern California and who wants to get off the major highways to do it. Now the book lives on my coffee table and we still pick it up to plan a day trip or to remind ourselves of the pleasures of past trips.

The journal of Miguel Costanso is a credible 'picture' of the what we now call California before the landmass west of the Sierra Nevada was grossly alterred by European man in the name of 'progress'. Any individual attempting to understand the extent of loss from the invasion of techno-industrial man (a.k.a hydrocarbon man) should read this book.

The Outline History of an Expedition to Califonia by XOX is a wonderful little book, verywelcom on the 150th anniversary of the infamous gold rush. Newspaper accounts of the times accompany the old fashioned cartoons that depict the various misadventures of a party of New Yorkers on their ways to the gold fields. Instead of instant riches, however, they find misery, difficulty and often death. The tongue in cheek humor and wonderfully scrappy art really captures the feeling of the time. It brings home the excitement and adventure of those who fled the boring east for the new wealth of the west. But descriptions of the abandoned wagons and tombstones, the epidemics and misery of the ocean journey, recall that these gold seekers were foolhardy in their optimism. Overall, a wonderful book, well worth the reading.

account of the early european visitors to San Francisco Bay, focusing on the area that became Yerba Buena, then San Francisco. The book ends with the discovery of gold in California, which signified the end of the villiage known as Yerba Buena. Imagine the green valleys of San Francisco, oak glens and cool creeks, a few barns and homes. Then imagine an influx of sailors, "Americans, Yankees, Spanish, French, Italians, Portuguese, English, Canadians, Irish, Scotch, Russians, Germans, Chinese, &c. Not a man was to be seen without a pistol and knife in his belt."

Working For Wages: On The Road In The Fifties by Peter Browning is a memoir of nearly ten years on a job driving new cars and trucks from Detroit to Los Angeles between 1949 and 1958 makes for a memoir which is hard to easily peg, charting changing social, economic and business issues of the times. Vanishing lifestyles and jobs, changing 1950s sentiments, and both humor and high drama are imparted in this lively, revealing guide.

An outstanding book which focuses on the MG's competition history and relates it well to the history of the company and politics that wove their way through MG's history. Since the MG Car Company was producing sporting cars, the competition history provides a great insight as to what was done and why it was done. The de-emphasis on MGs in competition, due to inter-company politics, especially after the time of BMC and Lenord Lord are discussed. Most importantly, the role of the MGB during these times is well covered by Browning. It is interesting to note that, while the Mini and Austin-Healey 3000 were the cars the company was "pushing" and, therefore, used mostly in competition, whenever they had a race or rally that demanded the utmost in reliability, especially over long distance, they used the MGB. A great book written by people who were actively involved in the building and running of the competition cars. No MG library would be complete without it.

Exceptional documentary of historical racing and rally cars. Probably the definitive source for vintage racing. Photos and text accurately document this period of competition. This is one of the few sources for this type of info for the real vintage enthusiast.

"Bright Gem of the Western Seas" is a compilation of newspaper articles written by James Carson for the San Joaquin Republican from January 17 to May 29, 1852, and reports on the Tulare Valley by George Derby. The articles written by Carson occupy the bulk of the volume, and are by far the more colorful and illuminating.

Mr. Carson holds a minor place in California history, having been an early inhabitant, gold panner, and explorer for whom some landmarks are named. He is not writing as someone concerned with his place in history, as a Stanford, Ralston or Hearst might have been. He is just telling it "like it is," or at least as he sees things to be.

And that is what makes this work so interesting. It is anything but politically correct. He speaks of the native Indian population in fairly disparaging terms that, I gather, were typical of the time. He defends the lynch mobs. Conversely, he complains of the racist Foreign Miners Tax as discouraging the immigration of Chinese miners. Go figure.

Better yet, don't try to figure it at all. Just take him for what he was . . . a man of his time. And, if you have an interest in California history and, especially, the Gold Rush, you'll probably enjoy having this book in your library.

Nothing is better for historical reference to the mood and texture of a particular time than the public writing of that time. This is, I agree, politically incorrect and quite telling. If you want to know what was seen, heard and felt by the people in California in 1846, (a year before the Mormon Pioneers got to Utah,) and 1852, then give this a read. Go and rent, "Paint Your Wagon," and make a night of it.