Drive

by D.K. Publishing

From the first horseless carriage to the AI automobile, this ebook offers a complete timeline of the history of cars and a colorful insight into their future

Charting over a century of progress--from horseless carriages to driverless vehicles--this is a stunning visual celebration of the motorcar and the romance of the open road.

Beginning with the birth of the internal combustion engine, Drive explores how this once rare and luxurious status symbol has become a staple of everyday life. It shows you the ways in which the automobile has influenced breakthroughs in new technology and design, while becoming the focal point of an exhilarating genera of sport. Taking you on a journey along Route 66, inside the engine of a sports car, and into the lives of the most successful pioneers of automobile history, the ebook also explores the possibilities of the "green" car, the electric motor, and AI technology of the future.

Combining rarely seen images, insightful biographies. and fascinating features, Drive illustrates how after more than a century of development, the car still conveys a sense of freedom, excitement, and desire.

Genres: History

1037 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 7, 2022

About the author

Dorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.

Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Joe Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drive as a tablet ebook has been formatted for easy use. Many of the DK books retain their print format which requires the user to zoom and scroll. This book has separate text in its generally short sections and pictures that pop up to fill the screen when double-clicked. It is less lovely to look at than the well-designed coffee table book formats of other DK ebooks but is far simpler to use which is a reasonable trade-off. It also allows this book to be read on devices with smaller screens.
The content itself is informative and pleasant but never rises to the level of any sort of artistic retelling of automotive history. Think of this as a bare-bones Ford rather than a Lamborgini or a Lexus. The book generally uses short essays to cover topics that relate to the various eras that roll by as auto history is covered from its birth until recent times.
Types of vehicles, safety concerns, breakthrough designs, and new technology are all explained simply and succinctly with plenty of pictures. Those looking for something of an overview of auto history will find this a solid read and walk away having learned much. Folks looking for something prettier might try Car from DK which is arranged more artistically but is less of a straightforward history.

[Josh Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally a very interesting book, however the timeline element showing the evolution of motoring is disturbed by the shoe-horning of pages that have no relevance to that era. For example, a segment on hood ornaments, which were primarily in use earlier in the century, can be found under the segment relating to the 1980s-2000. More a nit-pick than anything, but it does disrupt the flow when reading

[Arthur Ratliff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a wonder it was reading this book. I wasn’t that much of a car enthusiast until I picked up this book. It put everything in historical perspective for me.
What a pleasure!