A look at the history of ten of Europe's great abandoned race circuits and seen as they are today in stunning photographs.

Around Europe lie a number of long-forgotten monuments, windswept and abandoned, the derelict buildings and crumbling tarmac are all that remain of once great motor racing circuits. From the great speed-bowls of Monza and Brooklands, to the parkland of Crystal Palace, this evocative book features both historical pictures, as well as stunning contemporary photography of the circuits as they are now. Gavin Ireland’s photographs, commissioned especially for this book, have received critical acclaim, and since the book’s original publication he has received the Renault/MSA Young Photographer of the Year award.

A look at the history of ten of Europe's great abandoned race circuits and seen as they are today in stunning photographs.

On May 30, 1958, thousands of racing fans poured into the infield at dawn to claim the best seats of the Indianapolis 500, unaware that they were going to witness one of the most notorious wrecks in racing history. Seconds after the green flag, a game of chicken spiraled out of control into a fiery 16-car pile-up that claimed the life of 29-year-old Indiana native and rising star Pat O'Connor. The other drivers escaped death, but the tragic 1958 Indy 500 seemed to leave its mark on them: the surviving drivers were hounded by accidents and terrible crashes, and most would die at tracks around the country. But the tragedy also prompted new regulations and safety precautions like roll bars that would ultimately save hundreds of lives. In The Curse of Indy 500: 1958's Tragic Legacy, veteran sportswriter Stan Sutton profiles the ill-fated race and the careers of the drivers involved, highlighting their lives in the dangerous world of auto racing.

Crystal Palace, London's own circuit, has recently been found to be one of the oldest Motor Racing venues in the world - this is its story

Innovative and the first of its kind, this informative and multidisciplinary book explores the socio-cultural significance inherent in event infrastructures. While mainstream event management literature addresses event infrastructures mainly through its operational relevance, this carefully compiled edited volume takes infrastructures as an analytical point in respect to its social, political, economic and cultural potential of the study of events. Borrowing from the ongoing social scientific debates on the geography, sociology and anthropology of infrastructures, critical questions are posed in relation to the event contexts. With references to events in Argentina, Malawi, Spain and the UK, among others, the volume combines an international perspective with a highly relevant subject for contemporary event management education. By bringing together theoretical as well as empirical readings on the question of event infrastructures from a critical point of view, the debates are relevant to practitioners and researchers as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in the field of events, leisure, tourism, anthropology, sociology, geography and urban planning – among others.