No Angel - The Secret Life Of Bernie Ecclestone

[555-04Q2]

Anyone else read/reading this book? I got it yesterday and managed 168 pages so far. Brilliant look at the life of the man we love to hate, and the turmoil and politics involved in F1. I learnt a lot about how F1 today really came to be. It's a compelling page turner!!!

I strongly recommend it :up:

[steveaki13]

I might have to buy it now after your review.

Sounds Good.

[Mauri A]

Anyone else read/reading this book? I got it yesterday and managed 168 pages so far. Brilliant look at the life of the man we love to hate, and the turmoil and politics involved in F1. I learnt a lot about how F1 today really came to be. It's a compelling page turner!!!

I strongly recommend it :up:
Any info about the Great Gold Robbery?

[BDunnell]

Any info about the Great Gold Robbery?

I haven't read it, but an enthusiast friend who has says there is nothing of great interest on this, and felt that the book was rather disappointing overall.

[555-04Q2]

I haven't read it, but an enthusiast friend who has says there is nothing of great interest on this, and felt that the book was rather disappointing overall.

Your friend obviously is not interested in the history of F1, the FIA, Bernie, the F1 Teams etc otherwise he would have loved it. I got to page 261 last night and it is still fascinating, to me at least :p : It reveals a lot about how clever Bernie is, how stupid team principles like Ron Dennis, Frank Williams etc really were in the early days, how crooked the FIA is, how Max Mosley & Co operated in the early days, how race circuits have been bullied for 3 decades, how cheating in F1 is the norm and not the exception as most people think etc etc. It is a must read for any real F1 enthusiast.

[555-04Q2]

Any info about the Great Gold Robbery?

You will have to read the book to find out ;)

[ArrowsFA1]

I haven't read it, but an enthusiast friend who has says there is nothing of great interest on this, and felt that the book was rather disappointing overall.
Having read it myself I have to say I was rather disappointed as well, although that perhaps reflects more on Bernie's ability to reveal only what he wants to. It was quite an interesting read, but I didn't learn anything new about the man himself.

[MrJan]

I've been reading it, albeit it at a much slower pace. As I've not really studied anything to do with Bernie I've found it interesting how he's strongarmed and 'conned' (not the right word but close enough) so many people into deals that only really have one winner. The vision to grab the TV rights was very good and it's amazing how much moaning Ron Dennis does about it all, he comes across as completely lacking in class. Of course most of this was from the author's talks with Bernie so there is always going to be some bias and, as we're told several times early on, he's often deliberately mislead members of the press to create confusion.

[ioan]

It was quite an interesting read, but I didn't learn anything new about the man himself.

That was the point of the book most probably.

[BDunnell]

That was the point of the book most probably.

That would be unusual in the case of Tom Bower, the author, who is known for very hard-hitting and revealing biographies. As for one's opinion of this one, I suspect it might be dependent on how much one knows about the subject before reading the book.

[MrJan]

That would be unusual in the case of Tom Bower, the author, who is known for very hard-hitting and revealing biographies. As for one's opinion of this one, I suspect it might be dependent on how much one knows about the subject before reading the book.

Indeed, as someone who doesn't know a huge amount about Ecclestone, I've found it quite a good read.

[ArrowsFA1]

IIRC Bernie promised Tom Bower his full co-operation with the book, but this was withdrawn at some point. There are numerous references to TB spending time in Bernie's bus in the F1 paddock so clearly he was given 'inside' access to a point. I believe something similar happened with the Susan Watkins biography (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bernie-Biography-Ecclestone-Susan-Watkins/dp/0857330330/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1305879977&sr=8-2).

[555-04Q2]

I finished the book last Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I learnt a hell of a lot about Bernie, the way F1 is run/showcased etc etc. Good read :up:

[MrJan]

IIRC Bernie promised Tom Bower his full co-operation with the book, but this was withdrawn at some point. There are numerous references to TB spending time in Bernie's bus in the F1 paddock so clearly he was given 'inside' access to a point. I believe something similar happened with the Susan Watkins biography (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bernie-Biography-Ecclestone-Susan-Watkins/dp/0857330330/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1305879977&sr=8-2).

IIRC Bernie had an issue with Bower writing about his family. Apparently he agreed not to but changed his mind, subsequently Bernie threw toys out the pram and tried to get his chums to boycott it. This is all vaguely remembered from something I read when the book came out, could all be false of course.