Tom Sheppard is a well-known name in 4×4 and expedition circles. His books on expeditions with all-wheel-drive vehicles are standard works. So is his guide to off-road driving, the Four-by-four Driving guide.
The Four-by-four Driving guide, in its fourth edition, is more than just a guide. It’s a book that deals thoroughly with the whole subject of all-wheel-drive technology and off-road driving. In eight chapters and over 245 pages, Tom Sheppard introduces the reader to the subject with humour and goes into the individual aspects of the topic in detail.
Comprehensive content
The extensive second chapter deals with the individual all-wheel-drive technologies and what else an off-road vehicle needs in the way of features. He then describes which well-known off-roaders and SUVs use which all-wheel-drive technology, to help place them better. That way a buyer can get a picture in advance of which capabilities would be the right ones for their vehicle.
After introducing the technical basics, it moves from towing trailers correctly on to the individual off-road driving techniques. Driving on tracks, crossing obstacles correctly, tackling climbs and slopes are explained, as is driving on various surfaces such as sand or mud and off-road driving through water, wading.
Driving all-wheel-drive vehicles also involves recovery. Tom Sheppard devotes a chapter of its own to this subject, as well as to advanced driving techniques and towing off-road.
The penultimate chapter gives basic information and tips on expeditions. There are sections on team training, gear, logistics, load and packing and other important topics. Anyone who wants to go deeper here, overlanders for example, should read Tom Sheppard’s Vehicle-dependent Expedition Guide.
He devotes a chapter of its own to the subject of tyres. Tyre types and sizes, their pros and cons and how they can be repaired on the road.
Sound knowledge through experience
Tom Sheppard, a former RAF pilot, has a lot of experience in first crossings and expeditions. He has carried out a number of them, including the first west-east crossing of Africa with Land Rover FWC 101 vehicles. In total he has clocked up over 60,000 expedition kilometres, completed in various off-road vehicles.
His Desert Winds Publishing has also brought out the standard work on expeditions with all-wheel-drive vehicles: Vehicle-dependent Expedition Guide.
Where to get it: Four-by-four Driving on Amazon
Price: 33.99 euros incl. VAT
Language: English
One more word on the prices. When an edition of one of his books is out of print, there are insane (nonsensical) price hikes. In online bookshops, over 600 euros (!) is sometimes asked for a book that originally cost around 50 euros. In that case, better to wait, new and updated editions keep appearing at the normal price.