SpeedMan Press Web Site

Speedman Press Limited

(incorporating Lamorna Publishing Services)

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 Squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941

Welcome to the Speedman Press website

Speedman Press is a new book publisher, focusing on aviation, modern history and related topics.

It was formed in 2008 to take over the distribution rights to Fly With The Stars which had originally been published by Sutton Publishing.

Speedman Press now has the sole distribution rights to Fly With the Stars, and this is available through normal sales outlets such as Waterstones, Blackwells, W.H. Smith and Amazon as well as from specialist aviation bookshops and direct sales via this web site.

As a result of the success of Fly With the Stars, Susan Ottaway has now revised her renowned biography of Guy Gibson (originally published by Pen & Sword as Dambuster – A life of Guy Gibson VC and this is now available from Speedman Press entitled Guy Gibson VC – The Glorious Dambuster. We hope that you will find this to be an enjoyable and informative read.

With the whole publishing process now under control, Speedman Press plans a modest release of new books each year and details of these will be made available via this website, so please keep visiting for an update.

We hope that you will enjoy our style and ethos as new publishers, offering a small number of well-written, well-edited, well-designed books, that are interesting, thoroughly researched and of educational value. We welcome authors who have stories to tell and who can work with us to bring these to the public domain as Speedman Press titles.

Fly With the Stars

Fly With the Stars is the first complete history of Britain's third state owned airline, British South American Airways (BSAA), which was formed, along with BOAC and BEA, after the Second World War. It was a BSAA aircraft which made the very first flight out of the newly built Heathrow airport on 1 January 1946 when its Lancastrian, Star Light, took off for Buenos Aires under the command of the company's Chief Executive, former Pathfinder AVM Donald Bennett.

The book reveals the struggles that the airline's directors had, to establish their company as the British airline to South America, in the face of strong opposition and dirty tricks from BOAC.

Packed with facts and figures, archive photos, maps, charts, details of accidents, political intrigue and mystery, as well as firsthand accounts from the many ex-BSAA staff the authors interviewed, Fly With the Stars is a must for all those interested in both aviation and the political and social climate of post-war Britain.

Fly With the Stars was Aeroplane magazine's Book of the Month, May 2008 –

'With such an interesting content – and so much of it – the book is hard to put down. …a book which you really should read.'

It was also the featured title in Aircraft Illustrated, February 2008 where it was described as being –

'As good an airline history as has been offered in print for many a year.'

Please note that we are now contributing £5.00 from the proceeds of every copy of the book purchased via this web site to the Royal Air Force Benevolent fund.

To buy, please choose your location and click 'Add to Cart' to order your copy. Price includes p&p to your location

Hardcover: 256 pages

ISBN: 978-0750944489

Size: 234x156 cm

Illustrations: 42 b&w

Guy Gibson VC – The Glorious Dambuster

Originally published in 1994 by Pen & Sword Books as Dambuster - A life of Guy Gibson VC, this new edition has been revised and updated by author Susan Ottaway and is now published by Speedman Press Ltd.

In addition to the details revealed in the original book, this version expands upon Gibson’s early life and his marriage, and draws on conversations with members of his family and notes made by his widow. It illustrates exactly how difficult Gibson's life had been and how great was his success in overcoming these difficulties. This new edition also contains many more photos than the original, some of which have never been seen before.

Wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill called Guy Gibson ‘the glorious dambuster’ in a letter he wrote to Gibson’s widow Eve and it is from this letter that the book’s title is taken.

It will appeal to those interested in the Second World War and aviation, and to the many people for whom Guy Gibson became a hero and role model.

Detailing his military career, his deprived childhood and his unhappy marriage Guy Gibson VC - The Glorious Dambuster shows how courage and tenacity helped an ordinary young man overcome his background to become a national icon but tragically never quite managed to achieve the same success in his private life.

Reader review –

I finished what can only be described as a marvelous read the other day. Congratulations are well deserved for you. The previously unpublished information has helped clear up lots of ambiguities in previous works. Once again well done and thank you. Simon Welburn.

To buy, please choose your location and click 'Add to Cart' to order your copy. Price includes p&p to your location

Hardcover: 224 pages

ISBN: 978-0956217608

Size: 250x175 cm

Illustrations: 115 b&w

cover design: Tim O'Brien

Book orders are normally processed on the same day as being placed and books are dispatched by 2nd class post within 48 hours. If you have a bulk order please email your requirements.