The Magic of a Name: The Rolls-Royce Story, Part 2: The Power Behind the Jets

by Peter Pugh

The Magic of a Name tells the story of the first 40 years of Britain’s most prestigious manufacturer - Rolls-Royce.

Beginning with the historic meeting in 1904 of Henry Royce and the Honourable C.S. Rolls, and the birth in 1906 of the legendary Silver Ghost, Peter Pugh tells a story of genius, skill, hard work and dedication which gave the world cars and aero engines unrivalled in their excellence.

In 1915, 100 years ago, the pair produced their first aero engine, the Eagle which along with the Hawk, Falcon and Condor proved themselves in battle in the First World War. In the Second the totemic Merlin was installed in the Spitfire and built in a race against time in 1940 to help win the Battle of Britain.

With unrivalled access to the company’s archives, Peter Pugh’s history is a unique portrait of both an iconic name and of British industry at its best.

563 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 1997

Reviews

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history, a little bit too exhaustive and part of a 3 book set with black slipcover with the rr on it, each book with different color dustjackets. they each have a lot of pictures but it is way more reading than pictures which is fine. The three books while covering the cars is more on the industrial side. Not a fan that the author wrote a book on Keynes or that RR did business and licensing with China and Soviet States among others. The book is a sympathetic look at the different Rolls-Royce business units, more corporate biography than anything else. He mentions the Militant Unions which sadly brought GB and Most of it's once great industrial might to naught but sadly he does not criticize them. I do not like either that RR was nationalized, broken up and ultimately sold to nonBritish interest.