Are you interested in the very early Nortons? Then this is the book for you.

 Even if you aren't (much), like me, I am pretty certain you will still find this, bar some lamentable lows, a delightful book.

Dr George Cohen is a flat tank Norton nut. Over the years he has amassed a lot of very early Norton material, including handwritten notes by James Lansdowne Norton, that will, I am certain, make every bibliophile Norton fan delirious.

This said, and even though I absolutely recommend the book and compliment the author on most of his work, some parts of it, mostly involving a certain G.Cohen, are not quite honest. Dr Cohen must know the real story behind the so-called "1907 Rem Fowler TT-Winner". It is well documented this is a 100% forgery, built from various components in the 1960s for some Norton publicity stunt. Rem Fowler declined politely to confirm this was his TT bike. This is easy enough to spot, looking at the bike and the famous 1907 Rem Fowler photos. Lets just say the 1907 frame was lost and replaced with a later type, the 1907 TT-winning engine and other parts could not be located, so were substituted by similar bits, Rem Fowler was replaced by George Cohen, and what you have is the genuine 1907 TT winner c/w rider................?
Unfortunately, Dr Cohen became involved with the replica after the NMM fire, restoring it, and since claims this well-documented fake is the real article.

Most of the remaining text is further hero-worshipping, to a good part of "Pa" Norton (acceptable), and of some characters involved in the racing and record breaking attempts of the early years. Unfortunately, scant attention is paid to the economic and production side of the Company which, I am sure, was more interesting for most readers than what obscure record was broken at what venue, when, and by what porg ("person of restricted growth", as in Tom Sharpe's "Ancestral Vices" and the left hand side of page 131 in Cohen's book).

So take Dr Cohens war stories with a pinch of salt, and enjoy the book for its commendable, labour-of-love collection of Norton memorabilia.