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THE GIANTS OF SMALL HEATH

The Giants of Small Heath by Barry Ryerson 184 pp + Motorsports 6115 Gravois St. Louis, Mo. 63116

No, this nice book is not about science fiction or an English cousin of Wilt the Stilt, but another tome on BSA. You may well ask why yet another treatment of the subject since BSA is as dead as Queene Anne and furthermore, except for a run of the overrated Gold Stars, never produced a real enthusiast’s motorcycle but Giants is not your average motorcycle book. Mr. Ryerson is not your average Pom with his blinkers on but Canadian, thus enabling him to have an objective view of the whole factory setup. The author covers the absorbing history of why BSA was like it was and how the firm became England’s largest producer of motorcycles, a veritable octopus with 30 other companies under its thrall. He goes into the numerous models and basic details thereof, many humorous stores about the “works,” considerable detail about their sporting successes in ISDT-type competition, and in fact is so enthusiastic about the marque and its myriad models that he almost makes you want a BSA!

Giants should not be mistaken for a shop manual or aid to restorers; the book is a personal account of BSA as a company and especially how this colossus went down the tube in just a few short years. Mr. Ryerson clearly apportions the blame where it should be placed and in doing so, makes his book required reading for anyone in a management position of manufacturing and marketing motorcycles. I won’t tell you whether the butler did it as the book is too good reading for that! Have your own fun.

A book that had to be written, and very well too. My compliments.-H. Manney III