Tractors provides a vivid pictorial exploration of tractors through the ages, beginning with John Froelich’s invention – produced locally by the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company – through the first mass-produced models, Henry Ford’s Fordson and the Massey-Ferguson MF35, up to the latest driverless tractor, the John Deere 8R 410, which allows farmers to plot exact paths using a GPS-configured app. In between the book shows many of the world’s best-known models in action, including the New Holland Agriculture, Fendt, Valtra and Lamborghini. The evolution of the tractor in the late 19th century with the development of the Froelich tractor in Iowa in 1892 revolutionized farming, providing farmers with the means to combine the power of the internal combustion engine with the latest farming methods. Farming was never the same again. In the 1940s, hydraulic systems were developed to make tractors more valuable and comfortable, adjustable seats and headlights were installed, and the modern tractor became a reality. Illustrated with 180 photographs, Tractors is a pictorial celebration of these essential machines through the ages.

Jonathan Whitlam has been writing books and magazine articles on tractors and farm machinery since 1996 and is co-owner of four tractors spanning from the 1970s to the late 1990s. He worked on several farms in the UK before concentrating on writing and landscape gardening. He has been the editor of the Blue Force Club Magazine for over ten years. He lives in Suffolk, England.