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As is often the case, the Better is
the Goods worst enemy; so Magraths book looses out to the Norton book by
Woolett. This is a pity, really, as I very much enjoyed reading it. Whilst
it is not as comprehensive as Wooletts book by far, it is still a concise
and very readable account of Nortons history, starting with the honest
admission: "I think I should begin by saying that this book is not
what it claims to be. It is not "The complete Story" of the
Norton Company....."
The author then continues to call a spade a spade (or, as an example, and
with full reason, the "Rem Fowler 1907 TT Winner" a "re-creation
of Rem Fowlers machine, now in the National Motorcycle Museum"), and,
whilst the inevitable racing successes are told, the book does not stop
there. It dwells on the production machines and the company background,
which, to me, is far more important, and of more relevance to the average
Norton owner. Owners of ex-works racers might think differently!
There are seperate paragraphs on key characters in the Norton story, and I
notice with some satisfaction our own Richard Negus, MD of our sister
company Norton Motors Ltd, is covered in one. The book was written in
1990/1991, when the Philippe LeRoux House of financial Cards came down,
but, really, bar some insignificant efforts (including my own) to revive
Norton, that was basically the end of Norton as a motorcycle manufacturer.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book, even though, as said above, the
Woolett one is far more comprehensive; but for an introduction to the
Norton story this book will do for most people.
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