Englishman David Hobbs - `Hobbo' to his friends and fans - is one of motor racing's most remarkable all-rounders. In a 41-year driving career he raced in almost every imaginable category: endurance sports racers, touring cars, Formula 1, Formula 5000, Indycars, IMSA, Trans-Am, Can-Am and even NASCAR - he has done the lot. And on top of that he has been a television commentator in America for nearly 40 years, bringing wit and wisdom to the screen, presently as part of NBC's Formula 1 team. Now, at last, he has put down all his experiences in this highly readable memoir that will be welcomed by racing enthusiasts on both sides of the Atlantic. Early racing years: from his mum's Morris Oxford in 1959 to Jaguars and a Lotus Elite - and coming to the notice of the racing world. Sports car speciality: Le Mans in 1963 with the Lola Mk6 GT followed by Lola T70 drives and finally the big break; two Ford GT40 seasons with John Wyer's mighty Gulf-sponsored team bring a win at Monza in 1968 and third place at Le Mans in 1969 - and then a Porsche 917 Le Mans drive in 1970. Single-seaters: coming close to a Formula 1 breakthrough with Honda in 1968, but Formula 5000 in America is where success comes, as 1971 champion. Westward bound: the USA becomes his focus, with early highlights including fifth place in the 1974 Indianapolis 500 with a McLaren and leading the Daytona 500 NASCAR classic in 1976. Criss-crossing the Atlantic: returning to old haunts to take up opportunities, including racing Jaguar's famously fragile XJ coupe in 1976 and many more Le Mans outings, topped with another third place in 1984 driving a Porsche 956. Another championship title: ever versatile, he becomes Trans-Am Champion in 1983 driving a Chevrolet Camaro and winning four races. Sports cars galore: racing all the way to 1990, in all sorts of machinery but majoring on those all-conquering Porsches of the period - 935s, 956s and 962s.

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This is the first book to focus on the Fleet Air Arm's contribution to naval operations in the Mediterranean after the Italian declaration of war in June 1940\. The Royal Navy found itself facing a larger and better-equipped Italian surface fleet, large Italian and German air forces equipped with modern aircraft and both Italian and German submarines. Its own aircraft were a critical element of an unprecedented fight on, over and under the sea surface. The best-known action was the crippling of the Italian fleet at Taranto, which demonstrated how aircraft carriers and their aircraft had replaced the dominance of battleships, but every subsequent operation is covered from the perspective of naval aviation. Some of these, like Matapan or the defence of the 'Pedestal' convoy to Malta, are famous but others in support of land campaigns and in the Aegean after the Italian surrender are less well recorded. In all these, the ingenuity and innovation of the Fleet Air Arm shines through - Taranto pointed the way to what the Japanese would achieve at Pearl Harbor, while air cover for the Salerno landings demonstrated the effectiveness of carrier-borne fighters in amphibious operations, a tactic adopted by the US Navy. The author's years of archival research together with his experience as a carrier pilot allow him to describe and analyse the operations of naval aircraft in the Mediterranean with unprecedented authority. This provides the book with novel insights into many familiar facets of the Mediterranean war while for the first time doing full justice to the Fleet Air Arm's lesser known achievements.

For the first time, this book tells the story of how naval air operations evolved into a vital element of the Royal Navy's ability to fight a three-dimensional war against both the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. An integral part of RN, the Fleet Air Arm was not a large organisation, with only 406 pilots and 232 front-line aircraft available for operations in September 1939\. Nevertheless, its impact far outweighed its numbers -it was an RN fighter that shot down the first enemy aircraft of the war, and an RN pilot was the first British fighter 'ace' with 5 or more kills. The Fleet Air Arm's rollcall of achievements in northern waters went on to include the Norwegian Campaign, the crippling of _Bismarck_, the gallant sortie against _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_ as they passed through the Channel, air attacks on enemy E-boats in the narrow seas, air cover for the Russian convoys, air attacks that disabled _Tirpitz_, and strikes and minelaying operations against German shipping in the Norwegian littoral that continued until May 1945\. By the end of the war in Europe the FAA had grown to 3243 pilots and 1336 aircraft. This book sets all these varied actions within their proper naval context and both technical and tactical aspects are explained with 'thumb-nail' descriptions of aircraft, their weapons and avionics. Cross reference with the Fleet Air Arm Roll of Honour has been made for the first time to put names to those aircrew killed in action wherever possible as a mark of respect for their determination against enemy forces on, above and below the sea surface which more often than not outnumbered them. The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe completes David Hobbs' much-praised six-volume series chronicling the operational history of British naval aviation from the earliest days to the present.

The technical details of British warships were recorded in a set of plans produced by the builders on completion of every ship. Known as the 'as fitted' general arrangements, these drawings represented the exact appearance and fitting of the ship as it entered service. Intended to provide a permanent reference for the Admiralty and the dockyards, these highly detailed plans were drawn with exquisite skill in multi-coloured inks and washes that represent the acme of the draughtsman's art. Today they form part of the incomparable collection of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, which is using the latest scanning technology to make digital copies of the highest quality. This book is one of a series based entirely on these draughts which depict famous warships in an unprecedented degree of detail-complete sets in full colour, with many close-ups and enlargements that make every aspect clear and comprehensible. Extensive captions point the reader to important features to be found in the plans, and an introduction covers the background to the design. HMS _Victorious_ was a ship with two almost separate incarnations-as built in 1941 she was one of a new type of armoured carrier which saw strenuous wartime service; post-war the ship underwent a massive reconstruction lasting nearly eight years that saw her recommission in1958 as one of the best equipped carriers in the world, ready for another decade of duty. Both these phases of the ship's life are fully documented, which allows this novel form of anatomy to cover two generations of carrier design.

Does God still interact with humans today? Do miracles still happen? Can Christians tap into the supernatural realm? "If God were to show up in my life, what would He say?" "Why do so many bad things happen?" "Does God care about me as a person? Or is He too busy running the universe?" "Is heaven like a big resort with carnivals and fun things to do?" David Hobbs (Author of Out of the Fire, A Life Radically Changed) came across the surprising answers to these and many other questions in his journey which began as a stubborn attempt to discover God's purpose for his life and took him into the very heart of God Himself. Along the way he learned: 1. How Christianity is supposed to work 2. What is the "treasure hidden in the field?" (Matt. 13:44) Maybe not what you think ] 3. What is God's reward for those who diligently seek Him? 4. What God sees as His greatest accomplishment for time and eternity (this will surprise you ), and many more But beyond all this, he developed a relationship with God that became his own greatest treasure and provoked his great-est desire: that others might lay hold of this same "Promised Land" in God that satisfies the deepest longings and provides the greatest challenge to any person willing to learn to Walk in the Spirit.

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich houses the largest collection of scale ship models in the world, many of which are official, contemporary artifacts made by the craftsmen of the navy or the shipbuilders themselves, and ranging from the mid seventeenth century to the present day. As such they represent a three-dimensional archive of unique importance and authority. Treated as historical evidence, they offer more detail than even the best plans, and demonstrate exactly what the ships looked like in a way that even the finest marine painter could not achieve. This book is one of a series that takes a selection of the best models to tell the story of specific ship types - in this case, the various classes of warship that fought in the First World War, from dreadnoughts to coastal motor boats. It reproduces a large number of model photos, all in full color, and including many close-up and detail views. These are captioned in depth, but many are also annotated to focus attention on interesting or unusual features. Although pictorial in emphasis, the book weaves the pictures into an authoritative text, producing an unusual and attractive form of technical history.

Title: Tales of Black-Country Life.Publisher: British Library, Historical Print EditionsThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.The FICTION & PROSE LITERATURE collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. The collection provides readers with a perspective of the world from some of the 18th and 19th century's most talented writers. Written for a range of audiences, these works are a treasure for any curious reader looking to see the world through the eyes of ages past. Beyond the main body of works the collection also includes song-books, comedy, and works of satire. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library Hobbs, David; 1897 1896]. 184 p.; 8 . 012626.g.42.

Twenty-six years ago, young assailants shot the author in the face. Her recollections of how she coped make for an enlightening and inspirational story. She still lives in the same house where the shooting occurred and her transformation began.

This book for teachers suggests projects which cater for a wide range of concepts and skills, and links with other curriculum subjects.

In August 1944 the British Pacific Fleet did not exist. Six months later it was strong enough to launch air attacks on Japanese territory, and by the end of the war it constituted the most powerful force in the history of the Royal Navy, fighting as professional equals alongside the US Navy in the thick of the action. How this was achieved by a nation nearing exhaustion after five years of conflict is a story of epic proportions in which ingenuity, diplomacy and dogged persistence all played a part. As much a political as a technical triumph, the BPF was uniquely complex in its make-up: its C-in-C was responsible to the Admiralty for the general direction of his Fleet; took operational orders from the American Admiral Nimitz; answered to the Government of Australia for the construction and maintenance of a vast base infrastructure, and to other Commonwealth Governments for the ships and men that formed his fully-integrated multi-national fleet.This ground-breaking work by David Hobbs describes the background, creation and expansion of the BPF from its first tentative strikes, through operations off the coast of Japan to its impact on the immediate postwar period, including the opinions of USN liaison officers attached to the British flagships. The book is the first to demonstrate the real scope and scale of the BPF's impressive achievement and this new affordable edition will be welcomed by all those who missed this major work first time around.

This book adopts a new and accessible approach to helping readers understand how management accounting contributes to decisions in a variety of organisational contexts. It sets out clear explanations of practical management accounting techniques in the context of the application of these techniques to decisions. It recognizes practice through case studies and summarises published research. Uniquely, it examines the analytical and critical issues that often influence decision makers operating within private and public sector organisations. Key features include: - Case studies of varying complexity that will allow students to work at their own level - Summaries of important research articles - Key learning objectives and end of chapter questions.