From lumbering house-shakers on solid tyres to smooth turbo-power in the 1970s, the lorry has come a very long way in a remarkably short time.

In the early competition between steam, petrol and electricity, the internal combustion engine had more or less won by the 1920s, after proving itself in the First World War, when all-wheel-drive arrived in quantity and thousands of new drivers were trained.

The book traces the developments that created the modern truck in the 1960s and 1970s - tilt cabs, clever transmission technology and turbo power, and the transcontinental journeys they travelled.