前辅文
 The Quest for Speed
  Introduction
 Chapter 01 Speed Over Land
  • On Foot or by Wheel
  – Early roads
  – Stagecoaches
  – Tools of the trade
  • Steam Power—Britain and America on the Move
  – Railway travel in England
  – Isambard Kingdom Brunel
  – American railroads
  – Gathering steam
  • Twenty-First-Century Railways
  – The Channel Tunnel
  – High-speed trains
  • The Internal Combustion Engine
  – The horseless carriage
  – Racing improves the breed
  Brooklands
  Indianapolis
  Le Mans
  Grand Prix races
  • Two Wheels
  – Bicycles
  – Motorbikes
  – Motorcycle racing
 Chapter 02 Speed Over Water
  • From Dug-Out to Sail
  – Improvements in navigation
  • When Sail was King: The Clippers
  • When Sail was King: The Fighting Ships
  • The First Steamers
  • The Atlantic Crossing
  – The slave trade
  – Cutting the journey time
  – Rowing across
  • The Australia Route
  • Round the World Sailing Races
  – The great sailing races
  • High Speed on the Water—Power Boats
  • Ground Effect Vehicles
 Chapter 03 Speed Through the Air: The Early Days
  • Man’s Desire to Fly
  • Balloons
  • Dirigibles and Airships
  • Powered Flight
  – Aeroplanes
  – The Schneider Trophy races
  • Crossing the Channel by Air
  • The First Passenger-Carrying Flights: 1918–1952
  • Opening up the World—the Birth of Long-Haul Flights: 1918–1949
  • Flying Eastwards: 1918–1939
  • Trail Blazers and Record Breakers: 1925–1937
  – Success for Alan Cobham
  – “Amy, Wonderful Amy”
  – Alex Henshaw
  – Charles Lindbergh
  – Amelia Earhart
  • The Challenge of the Pacific: 1932–1939
  • West to East by Imperial Airways: 1931–1939
 Chapter 04 Speed Through the Air: The Age of the Jet
  • Designing the Jet
  • The Jet Fighters
  • Breaking the Sound Barrier
  • The First Commercial Jet Services
  • Concorde
  • Air Speed Records
  • Measuring Speed
  • Variations on the Theme of Flight
  – Rotating wing machines
  – Flying cars 187 iv
 Chapter 05 The Future
  • Rockets
  – The scramjet
  • Space Travel
  – Moon landings
  – Visiting Mars
  – The Space Shuttle
  – Commercial space travel
  • The Future of Travel: Faster, Further, Smarter?
  • Or WiIl It Be Greener?
 Appendices
  • Places
  • People
 Exercises