A Record And A Man

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30937, 18 December 1965, Page 4

A Record And A Man

Bluebird and the Dead Lake. By John Pearson. Collins. 188 pp. Illustrated.

This is the story of Donald Campbell's land speed record at Lake Eyre in 1964, written by one of Campbell’s companions. The author states that his interest in this last attempt on the record lay not so much in the record itself but in the observation of a much publicised figure at the crisis of his career Thus the book is more than just a record of the events at Lake Eyre, it is also the story of a man and his obsession and it tells of the fears, tension,

heartbreak and suspicion that formed the background to Campbell’s pursuit of his dream of speed. Campbell’s attack on the land speed record began in 1955 when he decided to build a car even more revolutionary than the boat with which he had, in the same year, established the water speed record. This, the first Bluebird, crashed at Utah in 1960 at 360 m.p.h. and Campbell was lucky to escape with his life. Financed by a millionaire, Sir Alfred Owen, the second Bluebird was built and taken to Australia in 1963. This proved, through bad weather, the still continuing after effects of the 1960 crash, and the anti-Campbell attitude of the Australian press, to be a disaster. The attempt was called off and Owen withdrew his financial backing. With this background of nine years of disaster the Anal, 1964, attempt was launched, almost entirely at Campbell’s own expense. Much of the story is concerned with the technicalities of the record bid. the endless preparation of track and car,

the many setbacks due to bad weather, the trial runs and finally the record bid itself. To those interested more in the car than the man this would be sufficient for an excellent piece of documentation but Mr Pearson has much more to tell us of the man himself. The portrait of Campbell is candid and extraordinarily revealing. In many ways, record-breaking, a cold blooded business, seems completely at variance with Campbell’s character. A bad medical history, accentuated by the 1960 crash, added to the difficulties of a man who, according to the author, is prickly, emotional, unpredictable and superstitious. Above all he bad had to live in the shadow of his father, Sir Malcolm Campbell the most successful record breaker of all time. Only 400 m.p.h. plus would break Donald Campbell clear of the spectre of the past. "Bluebird and the Dead Lake” will be remembered as that rare kind of book that is brutally frank about its hero and, while factual, reads like an adventure story. It can be thoroughly recommended.