It is not an easy leap from Italian football to British speedway, but it has to be made to pay appropriate attention to Shale Britannia: A Sideways Glance at Speedway (Methanol Press, £15). The title barely does the work justice, for it is not so much a glance as a full-on stare. It is an almost entirely pictorial record of the quixotic sport, compiled by Jeff Scott, who is splendidly privileged to be Writer in Residence at Eastbourne Stadium.

There is more than a hint of the great, sly realist Martin Parr in Scott's photographs, which capture a scene that has barely changed in many respects since the Seventies. It is a very attractive volume, neatly designed by Rachael Adams, and anyone who has ever caught the whiff of Castrol R on the evening air will love it.

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