A life of tractors and travel

This is a book about tractors, places and people. Ian M. Johnston is an internationally recognised authority on the history of farm tractors. Beginning with his boyhood in Fife and Edinburgh, he tells of departing to Australia on his own at the age of 16 and the numerous adventures that unfolded.

His experiences as a jackaroo, truck driver, shearing shed rouseabout, windmill erector's assistant and roving tractor driver are full of interest and humour.

It was tractors that first took him to Japan and green tea. It was tractors and a visit to the Farmliner factory in Romania that introduced Ian to Kalashnikovs. Of course. he did choose to drive there through what was then Yugoslavia and Bulgaria at a time when such visits from Westerners were regarded with great suspicion.

His passion for tractors extends to finding and restoring old and rare ones. Throughout the book he talks of the motor cycles and cars that he and his wife owned. He has possessed some rare and interesting tractors and an assortment of classic cars and motorcycles. The stories of these machines are told with love and humour.