Wednesday November 22, 2006

Safely to the Grave - Margaret Yorke

In my efforts to find new authors to read I am trying some of my wife's books. This time it is Margaret Yorke. The book has a rather nasty person called Mick Harvey who likes to frighten people. As he gets older the acts he does become more extreme and after a tustle with another car where he inflicts a bit of road rage things get very nasty indeed. A complaint is made against him and he decides to get his own back on the occupants of the other car. The book is quite good in that it has lots of other details about all charecters in the book , their backgrounds and so on. I think it needs this because the raw hate this guy reveals in the book would be too much to bear on its own.

Mick has a wife and two kids and her life is made a misery thanks to him but he is fond of his kids especially Cliffie his son. The book is convincing - the sad bit about it is out there in the world are many folks who act like Mick which is very depressing. The only thing I would say is it would be really interesting to know more about how he turned into someone like this that is perhaps the difference between Margaret Yorke and Barbara Vine the latter would expose more of the physiological background to why this person became a bad lot. Not a bad read though.

Friday November 03, 2006

A Dark Adapted Eye - Barbara Vine

This book is one of many written by Ruth Rendell but writing as Barbara Vine. I think books written by her under this name are often much darker and sinister. This one is the most famous of hers I think. It was televised and featured Helena Bonham Carter as Faith the person who narrates this book. Celia Imrie plays Vera and Sophie Ward Eden. The latter two characters are sisters who at the start of the book share a house together. Vera is married and has a son her husband is away on duty - in the Second World war. Faith is sent to visit her aunts to protect her from the bombs falling in the blitz and she soon discovers her aunts are two perfect snobs. The story does go back and forth bringing you up to date offering you the fact that Vera was hanged for murder - initially we do not know who she killed. It would be a pity to say much more as you might read this book and I would recommend you do so as it is a gripping tale. There is no doubt that Vera did the evil deed but her motivation for doing so and the truth behind that are left for you to decide at the end of the book.

Tuesday October 31, 2006

Wild Swans - Three daughters of China

This is an excellent book written by a Chinese woman about herself, mother and grandmothers life in China. For me the early part of ther story is the most interesting her Grandmother being one of the last in her generation to have the bound feet to make them small or like "three inch golden lilies". This was a very painful business and left her with walking difficulties for the rest of her life. Initially her father sent her off to be a concubine to a warlord a General Xue Zhi-heng. Her only daughter fathered by him was the authors daughter. Her grandmother was freed after his death and married and odd looking doctor a Dr Xia. The civil war is discusssed and how the Kuomintang were gradually routed with the communists taking over China bit by bit. The communists after the war soon restored order, food water and other essential things which clearly impressed the population. The communists were careful who they let into their party the authors mother who had had connections with the Kuomintang which tainted her initially - and later caused her problems in the Cultural revolution.

The book then traces Chinese history and how her parents gradually worked their way up the grade system - her father eventually having a very important position. The "Great leap forward" etc is the first of Chairman Mao's mad ideas "make steel". This meant people were prevented from producing food and famine soon resulted. Mao made sure he was not to blame for the suffering ; thirty million are said to have died. Children were killed and sold as meat. Mao dropped out of the limelight only to inflict worse suffering on China with the Cultural revolution later on.

This dark period in the countries history started with the Red Guards who were children and students who took to the streets and terrorised the population. Teachers were tortured and Mao's Little Red book was published. Many old guard officials were thrown out but kept under surveliance to inflict further shaming on them when convenient. Grass and flowers are removed, "Destroy the world so a new one could be born". Books, artifacts and treasures were all destroyed. This time the authors family are affected with both her parents under survilance and locked up at certain times. Hoards of students are encouraged to go to Peking to meet Mao. There was a feeble attrempt to stand up to Mao by his fellow Poliburo members - called the February adverse current.

People were categorized into reds blacks and greys. Many old scores were settled; in the author's parents case their old enemies the Ting family rose to power under the revolution. Her father was typical of many officials not wanting to blame the party for the events. Once her fathers head was attacked and one side of his head shaved in typical fashion. The family cut the other half off an he said I won't have to worry about my hair being pulled next time I am at a denunciation meeting.

Later on city dwellers were expelled to the countryside to be reformed or put into hard labour if they were class enemies. Fifteen million moved out. The author then found out what is was like in the countryside when the famine had occured. Her family had been well insulated from it being party officials and living in the city. At this point many families were separated and not allowed to see each other. Eventually though Mao then had to rehabilitate his old officials to keep his power base alive. Deng Xiaoping for instance. Meanwhile while things are getting back to normal Mme Mao and her chums are still trying to put a spanner in the works with slogans like To stop production is revolution itself and we would rather have socialist weeds than capitalist crops.

At this point the author then goes to university and learns English. She sees a copy of Newsweek and finally like many other Chinese challenge her feelings for Mao.

Her father dies and her mother then fights hard for an official pardon for him and finally gets him rehabilitated. Mao dies and the gang of four which included his wife are arrested and gradually the country recovers. The Author has opportunity to visit the UK. She was the first Chinese person to recieve a doctorate from a UK university.

I read most of this while working in Milan. I finished the book while waiting for my plane to take off. Opposite us was a China Airways plane. What sort of China are they going back to I wondered? One of the authors final comment was her unbelief at the events of Tiananmen square. Ordered by the man - Deng they all looked up as a liberator. A very good book. Since writing this she has written another book on Mao himself. She now lives in the UK most of her siblings also reside in the West.

Thursday October 26, 2006

Going Wrong - Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell - and her alternative name she writes under is a favourite in our house. I re-read Going Wrong the other day. It is about a man Guy Curren who had a short relationship with Leonora and is having trouble letting go. In fact he is obsessed with her and keeps trying to kickstart the relationship again. For some reason which escapes me she has always had lunch with him on Saturday where they meet. He also tries to speak to her everyday. Of course she now has a new man in her life and in fact Guy has a girlfriend but not the one he wants. Matters come to a head when she moves into her boyfriend's flat and they are engaged to become married. Guy who shall we say has a less than clean history - he sold drugs etc now plans how he can reclaim Leonora back by eliminating the person or persons who he feels have turned her against him.

He has criminal friends who can do this for him. Meanwhile he becomes more frantic in his attempts to derail Leonora's relationship and takes matters in his own hands in a very dramatic climax to the story. The final chapter sees the police catching up with him but I will leave you to read the story in full to see what he is arrested for. For me this girl does not sound like his type she is a bit like a tree hugger type person. There is a great line in the story where he asks his model girlfriend Celeste about how she feels about Guy meeting Leonora weekly and their sporadic telephone calls. She clearly is not fazed or threatend by these meetings/phone calls she says Leonora is hardly any competition to her she thinks. Alas she ends up being very wrong.. Good book.

Tuesday October 17, 2006

Enzo Ferrari - An Agitator of men

Enzo Ferrari A life is an excellent book by Richard Williams. I reread it the other week. Here are some interesting snippets from a book well worth reading - even if you re not a member of the Tifosi.

He said he was an agitator of men to correct people who thought he designed the Ferrari cars that carried his name.

His day sbefore he died were a strict routine, a visit to the barbers, then to see the family tomb, read the papers at the Modena office before going to Maranello to sign various papers with the trademark voilet ink his father used. He then had lunch, a rest until 4pm then back to the office until 8pm.

His father ran a large metalworking business in Modena an area that employed 60,000 men doing this sort of work before the First World war.

His father died in the Great War, and it nearly cost Enzo his life. His brother also perished.

He first saw Scarlet cars which was the international Italian car colour when he was young and decided then he would be a racing driver.

The Black Prancing Horse was alledgedly an emblem introduced to him by Count Enrico Baracca father of a late fighter ace. The yellow background is the colour for the Modena area.

He started his team Scuderia Ferrari as a works team using Alpha cars which his team tuned and modified after he decided others were better drivers than him. The teams first race was at the famous Mille Miglia.

His only legitimate son Dino was born from his marriage with Laura Garello in 1932. He was christened Alfredo after his grandfather and dead uncle. He died at the age of 24. The arrival of the son made Ferrari hang up his driving gloves for good. Meanwhile Ferrari had a long standing affair with Lina Lardi with whom he had an illegitimate son Piero who worked at Ferrari factory. Laura and Piero were allowed to use the Ferrari name after his wife died.

Nuvolari must have been Ferraris favourite driver - he said that Nuvolari contributed at least 65% of the total effort normally split evenly between car and driver. He died not from a accident but from long exposure to petrol fumes. The last rights read to him said - You will travel faster along the roads of heaven.

The Second World war were lean years for his team with the car manufacturers concentrating on the war effort. He moved to a safer location in Maranello in 1942 starting with a prefab shed on the site of a farm.

His first real Ferrari designed and built car was the twelve cylinder 125S designed by Colombo. Three varients were built; a 125 Sport, 125 Competition and a 125 Grand Prix car. Ferrari drove his first car out of the gates for its first test drive. It grabebd pole in its first ever race but the car failed to finish.

Soon the rich and famous come to see Ferrari - he refused to go and see people and never saw his cars race - he waited for the phone to ring with news. However his son Dino health starts to decline.

Ferrari renegaded on a agreement with Sterling Moss who then decided he would never drive for him. He was tempted again but had a bad accident and retired from racing afterwards having never driven a Ferrari in a race. Moss's nemesis Fangio did however and wass very sucessful in those cars.

After many years of insisting the horse pulled the cart he followed the English teams and put the engine in the back, in the sharknose Dino 156. The excellent Ford DFV makes its appearance at this time in Formula one.

He sold the company to Fiat in 1969. He did however maintain control over the racing team - a clause Henry Ford refused when he was going to buy the company and then said he would kick Ferrari's ass on the racetrack and did so beating him at Le Mans.

The most terrible accident where a driver was injured in a Ferrari must have been at Nurburgring the horrific injuries that Lauda suffered - and to Ferrari's surprise how quickly he came back to racing.

A close favourite for Ferrari must have been Villneuve who had an acrimonious rift with his teammate Pironi. Gilles drove with the famous number 27 on his car.

Just before he died he spoke to the pope. He said after the assasination attempt the Pope was in his thoughts and said he was sorry not to have met him. I think he was hedging his bets for when he was to met St Peter. His favourite car was always the one that would next bring home the next victory. In later years he was known as the old man.

Friday October 06, 2006

Poirot's early cases

A book of short stories featuring the Belgium detective Poirot penned by Agatha Christie. Most of these have been televised into one hour shows featuring the excellent David Suchet in the lead role. All these shows have had to embellish the less than ten page stories from this book to make a decent one hour program. My favourites from the book are:

The Affair at Victory Ball, where Lord Cronshaw and Coco Courtenay are murdered during this celebratory ball. The link to Commedia Dell 'Arte is that Cronshaw's party at the ball were all wearing costumes from the china collection which depicted the old Italian comedy.

The Cornish Mystery, where a wife meets Poirot and tells him she thinks she is being poissoned, he agrees to travel to Cornwall to investigate but finds when he arrives that she has died. The husband is later charged but Poirot finds out who really did the nasty deed.

The Plymouth Express where the daughter of Ebenezer Halliday is murdered is excellent and the chance spotting of the daughter by a paper boy on the platform is a vital clue to what happened to her.

The Chocolate Box is an old case of Poirot's that he investigated when he still lived in Belgium is discussed with Hasting's his friend and the victims love of chocolates was his undoing but the fact there were two boxes of different colours is the clue Poirot needs but it was a case he never officially solved .

Problem at sea finds Poirot on holiday on a ship in the Egyptian area and a much disliked wife is found murdered when they all return from a day trip. One of the holidaymakers has an unusual talent which helped them disguise the fact the woman was dead before they all left for the day out..

How does your garden grow is the last story, and the sudden death of an old woman is solved by Poirot spotting decorative shells in her garden which he saw spoilt the symetry of it.

Very good book I like the short stories that are quick to read ideal for reading one or two before going to bed.

Thursday October 05, 2006

A new Good guide

The new Good guides pub book is out. It is the 25th edition and there is a competition inside it to win some champagne. There are loads of new entries and I got my copy yesterday. There are three bits of good news in the book:

I am number seven in the rankings of people who write for the book. Which means in 2006 I have spent more time in pubs than I should have done...

The Baskerville Arms has made it as a main entry and is also Oxfordshire dining pub of the year.

The Royal Oak at Knowl Hill has also made it as main entry and as I suggested in this entry it has become Berkshire dining pub of the year. Both the above pubs were soley recommended by me - according to the book. So I am very pleased about that.

Wednesday September 20, 2006

A new (old) book from Ian Rankin

The Flood Ian Rankin's first book has been republished so we can get an insight into the writer in his early times as an author. It does not feature Rebus but you can start to see where Rankin's current style comes from in this book. There is no detective story it is just a about people who live in a small old coal mining town in Scotland. It is in three parts the first where we meet Mary Miller who after an accident ends up with silver coloured hair. Soon after the lad who pushed her into the pit where she had her hair colour changing experience meets his death in a coal pit accident. To make matters even worse she ends up pregnant and has a baby boy. Her brother - assumed to be the father of the child also leaves for Cananda. The second part catches up with mother and son as he takes his final year exams at school. He meets up with a gypsy girl who he falls in love with much to his mothers annoyance. Things comes to a head in the last part of the book titled the same as the book where Mary Miller is faced with reliving the events that led to her becoming pregnant with a dramatic end. It is a good book but I think Rankin's other pre Rebus book Watchman is a better read - although I had trouble putting this one down.

Tuesday September 05, 2006

Four short Agatha Christie stories

Murder in the Mews is a book of Poirot investigations however with four short stories instead of one long one. The first takes its name from the book title Murder in the mews. It is Guy Fawkes night and Poirot and Inspector Japp are walking through the streets of London deciding that in all this noise it would be a good night to commit a murder. The very next day they have one to solve - but it looks like suicide. Very soon though it is clear the evidence means a murder is more likely and a clumsy attempt has been made to make it look like a Mrs Allen took her own life. She shared a flat with a Miss Plenderleith who was away at the time. The victim was engaged to marry a MP a Charles Laverton-West who seems to take his wife to be's death very well. Soon a cuff link is found and its owner a Major Eustace is implicated in the crime. However the correct conclusion is reached soon after EM>Poirot and Inspector JappMiss Plenderleith around a golf course where she disposes of a set of golf clubs and throws a small attache case in a duck pond...

Next is The incredible Theft. Bomber plans are stolen from under the noses of the designer and other senior personel. It is assumed that a woman staying at the house a Mrs Vanderlyn was the culprit. Poirot is called in to get the plans back before they get into enemy hands. But not is all it seems but it does not take Poirot long before he gets to the bottom of a bit of double bluff espionage.

The third story is one called Dead Man's mirror and in the TV version Poirot meets the victim at an auction room where both of them are bidding for the same item - a mirror. The victim Gervase Chevenix-Gore invites Poirot down to investigate a fraud he is the victim of. Before Poirot gets to investigate Gervase Chevenix-GoreSnell the butler did not do it but with a name like that he should be at the top of any list of suspects. However the broken glass of the recently purchased mirror and the position of it and the gong ( sounded twice for dinner ) are both clues PoirotGervase Chevenix-Gore was murdered and who in his midst did the evil deed.

The final story just a few pages long is called Triangle at Rhodes. Poirot is on holiday and is with a group of tourists watching a potential deathly love triangle develop between two couples. When the wife of one of the couples dies and the husband of the other couple if found with poison in his pocket everyone jumps to the conclusion that he did it. The fact that the drink was about to be drunk by the victim's husband - who the other chap would have liked to get out of the way confirms the initial conclusion. But Poirot keeps a cool head in the heat and correctly identifies the real culprit before too long.

Four great stories and I think the TV versions better the books - for once.

Friday August 25, 2006

Death in the clouds

Another Poirot book this time with him shuttling back and forth between London and Paris. In the filmed version there are a few alterations to the book but it is pretty close to it. A plane the Prometheus heads from Paris to London. On the plane is Poirot himself. A Madame Giselle is on the plane and meets her death by a poison dart. Initially it is assumed that the dart was sent to its victim by a blowpipe found later on by Poirot's seat. He finds himself accussed much to Japp's amusement ( he is the Scotland Yard Chief Inspector). Most of the people on the plane had reason to kill this woman who appeares to be a blackmailer and money lender. Jane Gale who in the TV show was a female steward on the plane is in the book visiting Paris after winning a competition. She becomes very friendly with a man called Norman Gale also on the plane. The Countess of Horbury seems to have had more reason than most to kill off Madame Giselle owing lots of money to the woman to feed her gambling habit. The link between the two is difficult to make first due to Madame Giselle's maid burning her books and evidence. An American then features in the story - we do not meet him but he is clearly implicated in ensuring Madame Giselle is on the same plane as theCountess of Horbury. In the end it turns out that the breakthrough on the case is all about what people had in their possesions in the plane and an empty matchbox, a white coat and another item were items used in the murder. The problem is initially these are quite reasonble things for the owner - a dentist to have with him. The murder of Madame Giselle's daughter finally clinches it and Poirot gets everyone together to reveal who was the guilty party. Another excellent Agatha Christie book.

Tuesday August 15, 2006

Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile

A really clever one this possibly her best story in its intricate detail. The main action takes place on a boat as it takes tourist up the river Nile. The story starts before that and a triangle of people are the core characters in the book. These are Simon Doyle, his wife Linnet and Doyle's ex Jacqueline de Bellefort. On the boat too are a series of other people who become involved in the bad feeling that develops between husband and wife and Jacqueline who seems on a mission to harass and annoy the otherwise happy couple. Poirot is onboard and after the murder of Linnet takes charge with his friend Race and it is not long before two other murders take place. The clever thing is that the obvious suspect for the murder Jacqueline has a cast iron alibi. Doyle himself was incapacitated before the murder by Jacqueline after she has had too many Gins. The little Egg shaped head man Poirot unravels the complicated details of the case and in his usual style gets all the suspects together and tells them who did the murders. The TV show of the book is not bad a few of the charecters are not as I imagine them and feature David Soul who is Linnet's legal representitive ( who has his own covering up to do..). The end is quite dramatic and unexpected but adds a further twist to a great book.

Tuesday July 25, 2006

The Death Of Ayrton Senna

Another excellent book by Richard Williams like his Racers book I wrote about before. Before I write about this book; what where you doing when you heard about Senna' death? We were on holiday in Yorkshire we had been out for a walk and turned the TV news on. The news of his death shocked me as I had never seen an F1 driver loose his life before and two drivers lost their lives that weekend in Imola in 1994.

The book starts with the funeral how his coffin was carried on a fire engine through the streets of Sao Paulo and who was there to pay their repsects who was not (Ecclestone and Mosley). Back to the accident Richard Williams quite rightly says that Fangio who watched that accident and remarked as he turned his TV off after the accident that Senna was dead before it was officially prounounced was the only driver you could compare Senna with. A brief history of Fangio is offered in the book and afterwards a comparison of Fangio's best race with Senna's which was at the rainswept Donnington track. The way he overtook the cars in front of him in those treacherous conditions still beggars belief.

The main dfference between those two spectacular drivers was Senna's do or die attitude as regards getting past other people. They either let him through or they would leave the track in an accident that would surely follow them not surrendering to the man with the yellow helmet on. He changed Formula one forever in that it was he who made the sport move from its Chivalry face to one that included the possibility of the systematic application of controlled violence to quote Williams directly. That is no longer is acceptable in Formula one. Remember the incidents with the more recent world champion Schumi who has either been crititised or punished for his actions on the track.

Back to Senna. His rise through the various Formulas on his way to F1 is well known but many do not know that at the age of three he had seen a specialist as he did not seem able to cordinate well enough to walk. He had a pedal car but his dad built a real small go-kart which used an engine from a lawnmower. At seven he was driving a full sized jeep. He won loads of things in karting competitions in Brazil but the next stage was always going to take him to the UK - Formula 1's finishing school. Getting to the last leg onto Formula 1's run was always going to be hard and in fact Frank Williams's was the first person to give him a test. However he was not in a position to offer him a drive and he ended up in the Toleman but showing his clever business acumen at this stage in his career having a get out clause allowing him to move on which he did to Lotus.

A move to Mclaren was next and Ron Dennis tells a tale where Senna and himself could not agree on a salary. So the Ronster said lets toss a coin on it. Senna had to have this explained to him and he lost. Trouble was the difference between then was 1/2 million. Senna thought it was 1/2 million in total but it was for each season. For now the Ronster was smarter than his new driver. The story continues with Prost at Mclaren and the rivalry or all out war between them. At one point Prost said "if he (Senna) wants the championship that badly he can have it". Senna's controlled violence had become to much for the Frenchman.

His final year of his life he finally got to the team that tested him first. Ironically the Williams car of 1994 was dreadful - stripped of all its technical gizmo's that had made it the class of the field in 1993. Ratzenbergers death the day before had rattled Senna and has was scared for the first time in his life. After the accident there was a prolonged investigation and in the end charges were dropped against Williams and his team after many years. There have been all sorts of stories on steering column failure, Senna running over a piece of debris, him having held his breath too long ( as he did we were told at every race to heighten his senses) and many more suspicions. But the simple fact is a fluke penetration of his crash helmet by a suspension arm killed him. Ninety nine times out of a hundred he would have walked away from that accident.

The Tamburello corner is now reprofiled and the place where Senna died no longer exists as it was. There is a bronze statue near there to mark the event though. This is an excellent book and worth a read by any F1 fan.

Wednesday July 12, 2006

The Hollow

A good Agatha Christie book this if somewhat pedestrian. Poirot is in the country in a cottage near a large house the home of the Angkatells. Lucy the head of the household can be best described as a rather odd person. Totally eccentric and has the habit of saying what she thinks should be said rather what should be said and creating those rather embarrassing long silences. A family gathering has a couple Gerda and John Christow at the Hollow. Poirot visits the Hollow for dinner and is invited back for Sunday lunch. As he walks through the grounds he passes a swimming pool where Gerda is standing over John Christow who has been shot. In her hands is a gun. Henrietta John Christow's lover is part of a very complicated love triangle and it is soon clear someone else in the cottage next to Poirot was involved with John Christow in the past. So there are plenty of possible murderers to choose from. At the end there is a dramatic ending the details of which are the only difference between the book and an excellent dramatisaton of this story with David Suchet as Poirot. The style of writing of Agatha Christie might seem old fashioned now but the details in the book are excellent.

Monday June 26, 2006

Cards on the table

Another excellent whodunnit from Agatha Christie. I was prompted to read it after rewatching a recent TV serialisation of the story which was not bad. It features ( not for long ) a very odd chap called Shaitana who it is said played Mephistopheles all his life. His death happens at a social gathering of eight people plus himself who he invited for dinner. After dinner the eight split up into two groups of four who all play bridge in seperate rooms. Shaitana sits in a chair silently while this goes on. Eventually it is discovered he has a knife sticking out of his chest and is pronounced dead. The group in the annex room away from him are cleared of the crime as they stayed in the room. Poirot was one of those four and its number includes a crime writer a Mrs Ariedne Oliver who is odd to say the least and leaves a trail of apple cores in her wake. Colonel Race and Superintendent Battle were also in this room. In the second room Shaitana had gathered four people who were suspected murderers. Each of them had clear motive for killing him. Mrs Lorrimer, Dr Roberts, Miss Meridith and Major Despard. An initial interview is taken with each of the suspects and each of the other members of this party agree to work together and share information as they seek to get to the bottom of the crime. I won't spoil the story but Poirot solves the case by looking at the suspects bridge score cards and what they remembered that they saw in the room where the crime took place.

Wednesday June 14, 2006

Racers - an excellent book by Richard Williams

The backdrop of this book is the 1996 Formula one season where Damon Hill won his first and only championship. Although the book historically follows the 1996 season it is just a backdrop to allow Williams to intimately delve into the three drivers characters who were favourites to win the championship; Hill, Schumi and JV the latter in his rookie year for the Williams team. He also introduces and discusses other drivers and team personel in F1. Richard Williams is himself is a journalist for the Guardian newspaper.

The books starts with an analysis of each of the three drivers; where they came from and in the case of Hill and JV their fathers both of whom where racing drivers in their own right. You get the feeling that Hill was racing for his father to follow his footsteps wheras JV was racing for himself. For Schumi 1996 was his first year with Ferrari and it was going to be a learning experience for him and the team. After the first race in Melbourne where JV nearly won his first race there was a big stir in the paddock on how well he had got used to the different style of F1 cars unlike Michael Andretti who came from America ( like JV an ex Indy driver) and had a torrid season - which he did not complete. Next the book goes to Argentinia where we read about possibly the best driver of all time - but certainly in his era Fangio. The thing that stands out for me was his age when he drove and also what gentlemen the drivers of that era were.

The story conntinues in Imola where Hill's teammate of 1994 Senna died tragically. William's tells us about Gerhard Berger, Senna's teammate still driving for Benneton in 1996. This guy was a joker and played many tricks on Senna and it is said he taught Senna how to laugh. He let loose a dozen frogs in Senna's hotel room one day and after they had all been caught he said "only another twenty to go - and have you found the snakes?". We then travel to Monaco where Stirling Moss recounts a story of a girl by the side of the racetrack with pale lipstick on who he waved too as he drove around the street circuit! Here was a track Hill had never won on and when leading that race his engine blew denying him victory. A Ligier driven by Panis won in what must have been the lowest number of cars finishing any GP. In this chapter William's discusses John Barnard who was the designer of the Ferrari in Schumi's early years with the team.

Following on from Monaco we are taken to Silverstone where Williams reminds us you should always take a mac and sunbloc as you never know what the weather will do. Being in the UK he uses this chapter to tell us about the strong British motorsport industry with Patrick Head and Tom Walkinshaw being profiled. Belgium follows next where Hill's manager Michael Breen gets to hear that Williams will not be wanting Hill to drive for them in 1997. This story then continues in Italy where a press conference is held to discuss this news. For Hill this doubled the pressure on him as his points lead had been whittled away by his teammate and a DNF in Italy for him was his own fault.

The climax of the story heads first to Estoril where JV beat Hill and that meant the championship was to go to the wire in Japan. We hear about Michael Stepney who is still a chief mechanic with Ferrari. Back in Japan Hill shocks everyone by announcing he is driving for the Arrows team next year. On the track he wins the race and the championship. Williams then wraps the book up with his thoughts on how F1 was in 1996 and back in the earlier days, the drivers, the risks, the salaries, publicity and so on. He goes to Heathrow to join the crowd who are there to welcome Hill back. His son attends to and rushes off to ask Hill for a autograph which he gets. The next day his son says "did I dream I met Damon Hill last night?" and then sees the autograph to see that he did. As Williams says "thats what it is all about". Good book.