In 1964 in Australia's remote outback, on the dazzling saltpan of Lake Eyre, Donald Campbell set out to drive his "Bluebird" car at over 400 miles an hour--faster than any man in history. Things went wrong from the start: unseasonable rains, a sodden lake bed in which every high-speed run slewed dangerously, money running short--even an Aboriginal curse. With death shimmering on the horizon, the lonely Campbell tried to hold his nerve until he broke the record. Campbell would eventually lose his life racing his "Bluebird" boat on Coniston Water in England, with more than 30 years passing before his body was recovered in 2001, but this strangest--and greatest--of all his world-record attempts was witnessed by a young reporter. John Pearson's book about Donald Campbell is an extraordinarily compelling portrait of a modern tragic hero, fighting a battle with the inhospitable elements and the outer limits of technology--and, above all, with himself.
- ISBN10 1854108360
- ISBN13 9781854108364
- Publish Date 25 May 2002
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 22 January 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Aurum Press
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback
- Pages 204
- Language English