In Automotive Empire, Andrew Denning uncovers how roads and vehicles began to transform colonial societies across Africa but rarely in the manner Europeans expected. Like seafaring ships and railroads, automobiles and roads were more than a mode of transport—they organized colonial spaces and structured the political, economic, and social relations of empire, both within African colonies and between colonies and the European metropole. European officials in French, Italian, British, German, Belgian, and Portuguese territories in Africa shared a common challenge—the transport problem. While they imagined that roads would radiate commerce and political hegemony by collapsing space, the pressures of constructing and maintaining roads rendered colonial administration thin, ineffective, and capricious. Automotive empire emerged as the European solution to the transport problem, but revealed weakness as much as it extended power. As Automotive Empire reveals, motor vehicles and roads seemed the ideal solution to the colonial transport problem. They were cheaper and quicker to construct than railroads, overcame the environmental limitations of rivers, and did not depend on the recruitment and supervision of African porters. At this pivotal moment of African colonialism, when European powers transitioned from claiming territories to administering and exploiting them, automotive empire defined colonial states and societies, along with the brutal and capricious nature of European colonialism itself.

The Rootes Story - The Making of a Global Automotive Empire traces the meteoric rise of the two Rootes brothers, William and Reginald, development of one of Britain's most important motor vehicle manufacturers. The Rootes Group acquired some of the most famous names in the British motor industry: Hillman, Humber, Sunbeam and Singer cars, as well as Commer and Karrier commercial vehicles. Over the years, some of the models built by Rootes would become household names: the Hillman Minx, Humber Super Snipe, Sunbeam Alpine, Singer Gazelle, Commer Superpoise and Karrier Bantam. In its heyday in the late 1950s, Rootes was the fourth largest manufacturer of cars and trucks in Britain, exporting to over 180 countries worldwide, becoming a global automotive empire. In this book, the people and various companies involved with Rootes are profiled, as are the cars and commercial vehicles built by them, with specifications of principal models. Personal insight from employees is given along with valuable contributions from the Rootes family themselves. This book celebrates the heyday of a truly global automotive empire and one of the most important British vehicle manufacturers of the twentieth century. This is the first book written about Rootes to be sanctioned by the Rootes family. Will be of great interest to owners and enthusiasts of Rootes cars, and those with an interest in British automotive and industrial history. Superbly illustrated with 52 colour and 361 black & white photographs.

Vols. for 1919- include an Annual statistical issue (title varies).

** Merit Prize of 2017 CIPA EVVY Awards Book Competition ** ** Distinguished Favorites of 2017 Independent Press Award ** ** Finalist of 2017 International Book Awards ** ** Finalist of 2016 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award ** The automotive industry has a tumultuous history rife with back-room deals, brilliant innovation, colorful characters, and marked by the complete transformation of our planet. In Auto Empire, author Choi paints a compelling picture of the birth and growth of the modern auto industry. And how acquisitions and mergers, in particular, have paved the way for the auto industry of today and tomorrow. From the first steam-powered carriage to alternative energy and self-driving cars, the world can barely accommodate the ambitions of this massive industry. But in Auto Empire, Choi fearlessly tackles the industry in all its glory and failings to illuminate how it transformed itself and the world. Choi unfolds a fascinating history that spans diverse industries, epic upheavals, and touches every corner of the world. Auto Empire seamlessly weaves the eras of the automotive industry into a thought-provoking portrait of its continued evolution through acquisitions and mergers. To think, we went from sweatshop assembly lines and 14-hour work days to high-tech automation and digital innovation. In Auto Empire, Choi captures this amazing spirit of transformation.

E.L. Cord was first and foremost a salesman, both of products and of himself. In 1924, after achieving great success as an automobile distributor, Cord became the man with enough talent and panache to lead the Auburn Automobile Company out of its slumber. By 1929, Auburn sales had increased 15-fold and Cord was the head of an empire. His Cord Corporation owned Lycoming Mfg. Co. (engines), Limousine Body Co. and Central Mfg. Co. (auto bodies), Century Airlines, and Duesenberg, among others. Cord's philosophy of automobile design (and salesmanship) might be summed up in two words: Novelty Sells. Though mechanically ordinary, his Auburn models, with outstanding styling and clever paint combinations, were hot sellers. Cord oversaw the introduction of the fabulous Model J Duesenberg, a car whose combination of size, cost, performance, and style was and is unmatched in American automotive history. His most novel car was the rakish Cord L-29, the first American production car to feature front-wheel drive. All this and more is told of America's true renaissance man, E.L. Cord, in the original and complete biography of the man behind the Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg lines. The luxurious presentation includes 280 over-sized pages containing more than 500 rare illustrations, photographs and documents.