Playing with Boys

By Colin Turbett

Olga Kevelos (1923-2009) was an independent individual whose life, spent mainly in the English Midlands, was laced with glamour and rich in adventure and experience. Her involvement in motorcycle sport has never been fully recorded and this book will be of interest to those who want to know more about the world of post-war motorcycling in the UK. It will also be of value to those who have an interest in the often uncelebrated and overlooked history of women in motorcycling sport.

Playing with the Boys, based on photographs and research undertaken by the author, cannot substitute for the autobiography that Olga herself never wrote, but is as full as the available sources of information would allow. It dispels some of the myths about Olga - that she propagated herself - and which were eagerly repeated by contemporary motorcycle journalists. It also candidly reflects the life of a woman who ploughed her own furrow and was beholden to no one.