Speedway Books and Games
Speedway Books and Games: High praise for Shale Britannia
By Nick
Jan 26, 2008, 23:18

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.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml;jsessionid=3RCCX3HIPQCPHQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/sport/2008/01/24/sobook124.xml