BOOKS
THE GRAND PRIX SABOTEURS
James Bond meets Max Verstappen
The idea of racing drivers working as secret agents is at best far-fetched but the book tells the amazing true story of how three top Grand Prix drivers from the 1920s and 1930s worked for a clandestine British secret service in occupied France, during World War II.
The product of 18 years of research, tells a story that remained top secret until the British Government finally agreed to release classified documents in 2003. It dazzles with swashbuckling escapes, shocking betrayals and a story you will never forget.
The Grand Prix Saboteurs was published in 2006 and won the Guild of Motor Writers Book of the Year award.
The book is available in Italian.
THE MAN WHO CAUGHT CRIPPEN
THE AMAZING LIFE OF HENRY KENDALL
Henry Kendall went to sea as a cabin boy at the age of 15. By the time he was 32, he was the captain of an Atlantic liner, and in 1910 shot to fame went he sent a celebrated wireless transmission from the SS Montrose, as she headed out in the Atlantic ocean: "Have strong suspicions that Crippen, London cellar murder and apprentice, are among saloon passengers." The message sparked off an extraordinary chase as Inspecteur Walter Dew from Scotland Yard raced by train to Liverpool, boarded a fast ship to Canada, aiming to arrive before the Montrose, to arrest Dr Crippen.
The world watched the drama unfold as the power of wireless communication in law enforcement was proved for the first time.
Four years later, Kendall was the commander of the RMS Empress of Ireland when she was hit and sunk by a Norwegian coal freighter in the St Lawrence estuary. There were 1,012 lives lost but, by a quirk of fate, Kendall survived.
During his life, Kendall survived attempted murder, shipwrecks, torpedoes, icebergs, scorpion bites, cannibals, sharks, fevers, flying bombs and even a marauding leopard.
The book is available in French.
FOUR VOLUMES OF FASCINATING F1 FACTS
The books are the perfect gift for motor racing fans.
They explore some of the amazing stories behind the drivers, teams and team owners, cars, tracks and races and are slim enough to fit into a briefcase or a handbag.
The short stories are between 500 to 1,000 words (100 in each book) so you can pick up a volume and put it down without losing the thread. They are a great holiday reading, a mine of information to have on your bookshelves or coffee table.
The breadth of the subject matter is splendid and far-reaching. Fascinating F1 Facts are just that - fascinating. The topics are so disparate that they cannot fail to entertain and at the same time educate.