John Surtees: My Incredible Life On Two And Four Wheels

This great big book is not a biography or autobiography, which perhaps may come later. It a compendium of thoroughly captioned photographs spanning some of the most significant decades in motorsports, from John Surtees' active racing years from the 1950s to the 1970s and beyond. I was privileged to watch and report on him at many race tracks and was flattered that he quoted me in his first book, "John Surtees SPEED." Valentino Rossi's introduction is testament enough.Some reviewers have implicitly criticized the book for being `only' a photo collection, as if that approach detracted from the reading and viewing experience. If, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, this could have been a 1,000-page tome. Every page of photographs here is a new and fascinating adventure. Indeed, the only thing missing (what, no CD?) is the sounds of the great machines. Oh yes, and maybe a dash of Castor Oil for nostalgia buffs.It is difficult to overstate the thoroughness with which the book was created. Few significant elements in John Surtees' career are omitted, starting with his NSU and Vincent motorcycle racing through his Norton and MV world championships and Isle of Man achievements into his four-wheel racing with Lotus, Lola, Cooper, Honda, Ferrari F1, F2 and sports cars, and finally his own cars. Well, all right, one might have hoped for a photo of John Surtees and his father Jack in the tiny Hillman van in which they would, memorably, bring the race bikes to the track.More than anything, the book, co-created with Mike Nicks, speaks powerfully to the character of a great man who achieved magnificently--as everyone knows, he was the first and almost certainly the only racer ever to achieve MotoGP and Formula 1 world championships on two and four wheels (Rossi comments interestingly and insightfully on the achievement).It is much more. It enables Surtees' character to shine through: tough, persistent and brilliantly talented, true, but also humble, modest and fundamentally decent in his approach to life, to his racing and to others. In this he contrasts significantly with admittedly great champions from other eras, so driven, so consumed with the need to win that they dealt unethically, even amorally, with the competition. You know them. Surtees never did that, or needed to.The book ends with a poignant words-and-pictures tribute to Henry Surtees, John's talented racer son, who died so tragically (and, basically, unnecessarily) while racing. The appendix covers Surtees' racing record. This is a very important historical document that anyone interested in two- and/or four-wheel motorsports should acquire

Complete history of "Big John" since he was starting racing with his dad and later on the Vincent, all the champiosnhips he won on the MV Agusta, until the unforgettable world champion in 1964 with Ferrari, his relation with the comendattore and ther reason why he split with Ferrari, until the Can Am and later as owner of a F1 team. Well documented and a lot of pictures, some I haven't seen before, chronological order and well explained, I really enjoyed.

This incredible "book of pictures" told the story of this great man's life. The pictures were so good that they told the story, that words could not describe. John identified the people, settings and vehicles, in those pictures. It was like a silent movie, with the script at the bottom.Great book!

Beautiful book for those who like the sport.Really impressive life.., as a tittle says..

Full of great photos, including his motorcycle days. A classic story focusing on the days when a large number of racers did not survive their careers. Highly recommended!

I'm a huge fan so I loved all the pictures. It's a great book.

Amazing photos Its a really fun book, with lots to see, read, and learn

Great read. Fascinating stuff.

Very disappointed that this is just a picture book with captions, I brought it without seeing a copy expecting to read about his Incredible Life on Two and Four Wheels but there is very little to read in this book. I am now rereading his 1963 book Speed John Surtees' Own Story and also have his other much earlier books John Surtees on Racing and Speed and How to Obtain It and have yet to look at all the pictures that are no doubt good but remain just pictures. This latest book is clearly for the short attention span generation who just want to look and pictures and cannot read more than a short caption. Yours sadly disappointed.

Fantastic book on a fantastic life. A breath of fresh air to read an Autobiography in a different format to the usual book of text with a couple of sections of a dozen, maybe two dozen photos. Detailed captions for each photo give the detail behind the image, and the photos not only put across John Surtees and motorsport, but show details of how the world was through these decades. If a picture paints a thousand words (at least, given the content and quality of those used), then there's several million words here.

Interesting book because it gives equal weight, rightly, to two and four wheels. Will disappoint anyone looking for in depth written analysis but as a tribute to Surtees' efforts re the Henry Surtees Foundation well worth the money.

You need to shop around to get the best price on this book. It is beautifully produced with many images never seen before. Essential reading for anyone interested in the two and four wheel racing of the period.

Slightly biased here as JS owns the company I work for, so my copy is signed by the great man. That aside the book is a treasure trove of information about one of the finest exponents of motorsport the world has ever known.