Ballantine's "Richard's Bicycle Book", first published in 1972, appeared at a time when cycling was experiencing a resurgence in popularity due in part to the oil shortages of the world oil crisis and the appearance of lightweight road bicycles. The book was a cornucopia of cycling-related information; it not only contained an overview of the history of the bicycle, explanations of differing bicycle designs and types and various bicycle accessories, guides to basic bicycle maintenance and fitting among others, but was heavily laced with the author's own views and humour to boot.