In Australia's remote outback, on the dazzling saltpan of Lake Eyre, Donald Campbell set out to drive his Bluebird car at over 400 miles an hour, faster than any man in history. Things went wrong from the start: unseasonal rains, a sodden lake bed in which every high-speed run slewed dangerously deep ruts, money running short, and even an Aboriginal curse. But with enormous courage, as death shimmered on the horizon ahead of him, the lonely and isolated Campbell tried to hold his nerve until he broke the record...

Bluebird and the Dead Lake is a true report of the events, which read like a thrilling adventure story. This is a vibrant portrait of one of the world's most hostile and mesmerising landscapes. It is also a compelling psychological drama driven by ambition, bitter rivalry, tenacity and, above all, death-defying courage. This is the story of a man and his obsession, and John Pearson gives an eye-witness account of the fear, the tensions, the heartbreak and the suspicions that grew behind the scenes as Campbell pursued his dream of speed on a track which seemed to spell certain death. The portrait of Campbell is candid and extraordinarily revealing. It shows a man struggling against his own weaknesses and immense hazards to achieve one of the most remarkable records of all time.

'Bluebird & the Dead Lake is a classic man-against-the-elements story, and not just for petrol heads.' Sunday Age