Traction engines developed in the mid 1860s and were usually dirty, noisy and somewhat crude to handle. They were driven initially by men who were perhaps not very skilled in handling them but these men were not just drivers they developed the task into an art. This book brings together much information about these engines, from the earliest to the latest. Attention is also given to the various derivatives of the traction engine the humble portable, the well-known steam roller, the little steam tractor, majestic road locomotives and ploughing engines and, not least, the King of the Road, the glorious and glittering showman's engine. | 
