New book review from Rotary News
http://rotarynews.com/

The Wankel Rotary Engine: A History 
      Source: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 
      12/08/2001 
      A new book is set to be published in January of '02, titled The Wankel Rotary Engine: A History by John Hege. At 182 pages, 78 photographs, figures, and notes, the book traces the WRCE
      to its roots by Felix Wankel, trough the 50's to present day. 

      Here is a summary from the publishers website:
      "Conceived in the 1930s, simplified and successfully tested in the 1950s, the darling of the automotive industry in the early 1970s, then all but abandoned before resurging for a brilliant
      run as a high-performance powerplant for Mazda, the Wankel rotary engine has long been an object of fascination and more than a little mystery. A remarkably simple design (yet
      understood by few), it boasts compact size, light weight and nearly vibration-free operation. In the 1960s, German engineer Felix Wankel?s invention was beginning to look like a
      revolution in the making. Though still in need of refinement, it held much promise as a smooth and powerful engine that could fit in smaller spaces than piston engines of similar output.
      Auto makers lined up for licensing rights to build their own Wankels, and for a time analysts predicted that much of the industry would convert to rotary power. This complete and
      well-illustrated account traces the full history of the engine and its use in various cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles and other applications. It clearly explains the working of the engine
      and the technical challenges it presented-the difficulty of designing effective and durable seals, early emissions troubles, high fuel consumption, and others. The work done by several
      companies to overcome these problems is described in detail, as are the economic and political troubles that nearly killed the rotary in the 1970s, and the prospects for future
      rotary-powered vehicles. 

      John B. Hege is an automotive technician in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who has followed the Wankel rotary since his and its early days. 

      It should sell from around $35, it is not Yet Published, but should be available by 01/2002. 

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