SOLVED. English-language Children's Picture book from the 90s (or earlier) featuring cross-section/ cutaway drawings/ schematics of pseudo-historical vehicles, e.g. Roman submarine, caveman mobile home, Victorian spaceship. [s]

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As described in the title, I have been searching for years with no luck to find a children's picture book I read in the mid-1990s in the UK. It had no story, but any descriptive text would have been in English. Each page had a different cross-section/cutaway diagram or schematic of pseudo-historical vehicles. Basically modern vehicles if people in various historical eras had tried to build them. I can't remember them all, but I vividly remember three of them.

1. A caveman mobile home. Literally a giant rock full of caves and pulled by big animals (I think mammoths) on rolling logs. Basically a Flintstones-style thing.

2. A Roman submarine that was like a historical Roman galley with oars, but also a roof so that it could go underwater. I'm 99% sure it was shaped like a seahorse and called the Hippocampus (Latin for seahorse).

3. A Victorian spaceship, powered by coal and a set of gigantic bellows to blow the fire out like a rocket. In other words, a Steampunk spaceship.

If you know the name of this book, please let me know! Thanks in advance.

[C E]

This sounds like many of Stephen Biesty's books. The ones I know about are single topic, but if you look him up on Amazon, it may bring up ideas for other cross section books, and the one you're looking for may be among them.

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Cheryl wrote: "This sounds like many of Stephen Biesty's books. The ones I know about are single topic, but if you look him up on Amazon, it may bring up ideas for other cross section books, and the one you're lo..."

Thanks for the tip. I was looking at Biesty's books, and although it's a very similar style, they all seem to be real-world present-day or historical (e.g. space shuttles, castles), whereas the book I remember was definitely more fantastical pseudo-history.

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Solved on another forum: King Arthur's Spaceship by John Yeoman and Leo Hartas.

[Rainbowheart]

Glad it was found!

King Arthur's Spaceship for the link.