When I was growing up there was one particular friend whose house I was desperate to be invited to after school. The reason was not because I liked him better then any of my other friends, but that he indisputably had the best scalextric track set-up of anyone in my school. It looped all around his bedroom; over the desk and the bookshelves; out into the hallway before doubling back underneath the bed and coming to a finish just by his wardrobe. What I was most jealous about though was that this layout was a permanent feature of his house. My own parents made sure that I packed the track away after I finished with it, a source of burning resentment that came flooding back to me when I picked up a copy of Scalextric by Jon Mountfort.
Leafing through the pages I found myself smiling in recognition of some of the cars, in particular the grand prix models of the 1980s. Mention the words Scalextric to any of my friends and the eyes will light up with many happy memories; so if you are looking for a present for a man of any age then this is for you. If you need any more convincing then the author is donating half of his royalties to the Help for Heroes charity and can be met in person signing copies of the book in October and November.