Weaving together intimate memory, anecdote and historical example, Michael Holroyd traces his relationship with cars and driving through a lifetime of biography. There's Michael's military-operation-style driving lessons where he spends whole lessons learning how to get in and out of the car in the correct fashion; his biographical subject George Bernard Shaw who continued to drive with reckless gusto into his eightieth year; and the story of Michael's beloved Daf which on Catholic football match days in Dublin would get a thorough beating from the fans thanks to its English number plate.

Wry, thoughtful and very funny, On Wheels is an elegy to the glamour of the car. Sly and perceptive to a fault, in these five delightful essays Michael Holroyd finds new and surprising ways to understand the past and challenge our view of the future.