STEALING SPEED: The biggest spy scandal in motorsport history Kindle Edition

Very rarely, you can point to one or two people who completely and dramatically changed something for the better. If you're a motor-head, and especially if you're a motor-head of the two-wheeled variety, and VERY especially if you've ever ridden a super-fast four-stroke motorcycle and wondered why a two-stroke race bike half your size just kicked your ass, this is the book for you. The book tells the whole story behind two men who re-wrote racing history by turning a practically useless engine system into a world-beater that changed motorcycling forever, with a lot of help from a flying bomb. It's complicated. .This is a very well-researched book that traces the real story behind the two-stroke engine revolution - pardon the pun. It's well-written, and you will definitely learn a lot about some of the political intrigue behind racing. And it's fun. Serious fun.

I greatly enjoyed this book. It is an easy, entertaining, yet informative read. It is not only a document of classic motorcycle racing events, but it also gives a feel of Cold War history.I think anyone can enjoy reading 'Stealing Speed', although some basic interest in motorcycles or an identification with the presented time period may help. To fully appreciate the content it may be also handy to know the difference between a two stroke and a four stroke.I liked the style of the narrative. It is not a typical journalistic documentary where the author tries overly hard to sell his story by using sensationalist language. What made me feel skeptical, and why I would give it 4.5 stars if I could, is that he misspelled several of the German names and expressions throughout the book. It makes me wonder whether Mr. Oxley's sources were not reliable or if he did his research sloppily. Either way, I hope that doesn't mean the other facts, as presented, aren't also to be taken with a grain of salt.

It's an interesting read. I found the sample a bit misleading as the book is rather an insight into the world of motorcycle GP racing of 1950's - 70's supported by the "stealing" scandal than the story about post war technology evolution paths. It's not a bad thing though. A must read for a fun of modern era motorcycle racing. Living in a post communist block country, remembering the MZ's of the 80's I found the story of Kaaden and Degner particularly easy to refer to.

A excellent book! I cannot believe this story is not more well known and written about. The story about Ernst Degner is amazing and full of twist and turns, this book should be made into a movie. I enjoyed the story about Walter Kaaden, it makes me appreciate what a great man he really was and receives so little recognition still to this day for his dedication to the advancement of the 2 stroke engine. This book is a fast moving story that I did not want to put down until I was finished. Matt Oxley is a fine writer and gives insight that only a motorcycle racer could, especially when describing the racing action at the Isle of Mann TT.

If you have the slightest interest in motorcycle racing, the Isle of Man, the Cold war or all three then this book will immerse you in the period. The first half of the book is a little slow but necessary to build the full framework for the latter part of the book. The descriptions are lively to the point where I could readily conjure up the roadway, the smells, the sounds and all that goes with the racing scene. Beyond the immediate aspects of the racing, the well handled technical detail and the deals being done, it also strikes a morale chord. The efforts of Walter Kaaden are what gave shape to the modern engine and racing scene and without Ernst Degner it wouldn't have been the same. All that is needed now is for for someone (and yes, I am looking at you Ron Howard) to make a film of this story.

If this book were titled "The Two-Stroke Motorcycle Engine and Racing in the 1950s-60s" it would have been more accurate, and I would have passed it by. Oxley dedicates barely two chapters (out of 15, including the lengthy epilogue) to Degner's actual defection and the theft of the two-stroke (in other words, the title of the book), and the rest of the book is a passable account of the lives of two men who worked on it. I suppose racing enthusiasts might enjoy it, but not a wider audience. The writing style is uneven with Oxley routinely employing very strange metaphors and word pictures to explain concepts. There are also numerous typos and grammatical errors that required re-reading of passages to understand what Oxley meant by certain sentences. All in all I wondered if the draft had passed by an editor before going to print. It's an okay book with passable writing, and the subject matter is somewhat engaging, at least. If you're looking for a fairly straightforward history of the 2-stroke and racing in the 50s and 60s, recounted in turn-by-turn detail at some points, this is the book for you. If you're looking for a detailed account of defection and industrial espionage, you'll have to look elsewhere.

A thoroughly engaging read. Matt Oxley must have done an immense amount of research, and it shows. A terrific book, one I highly recommend. My only gripe is that I wish I could've bought the hard cover copy, the photos in the paperback are a bit small. Fellow Kiwi Hugh Anderson talks in his autobiography, about how tricky it was to ride the racing Suzukis. He also comments about Ernst Degner, and has a photo of himself & Matt Oxley, post race, from a later period.

I bought this on a whim not expecting much and I was so wrong. Any motorcycle enthusiast that rode during the 60's and 70's will find it very interesting. I always wondered how a East German company like MZ could compete and win races with what we thought were outdated and crude bikes. The author mixes suspense and science together very well. This is the other side of the all the news stories of the day and I highly recommend it.