A cough. A splutter. A jet of flame for good measure and the Merlin is prised from its slumbers and into rambunctious life. Many of you, perhaps even most, will have heard one of these engines, at Goo

Our pick of the latest military history books

DESPITE BEING largely derided by the US Army Air Corps and rejected as unsuitable by the RAF, the P-39 ended World War Two with the highest enemy kill tally of any US fighter. In February 1937, recogn

Sometimes a book deserves this slot just because it does exactly what it says on the tin – or, more accurately, the cover. That’s the case with Aston Martin – The Entire Story, which is a straightforw

Did you know that Thomas Müntzer, leader of the German Peasants’ War in 1525, used a rainbow flag to rally his followers? It’s an aptly exuberant image for the radical charisma of Müntzer, and for the

Brake hard, drop to second, wipe the wheel as you thrust forwards again and gather the second apex, run wide on exit and then gun this Riley Brooklands down the very short straight accompanied by what