Book info

• Title No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone
• Author Tom Bower
• Year 2011
• Genre Biography

Born into poverty, Bernie Ecclestone has made himself a billionaire by developing the world's second most popular sport - Formula One racing. Private, mysterious and some say sinister, the eighty-year-old criss-crosses the globe in his private jet, mixing with celebrities, statesmen and sporting heroes. His success is not just in creating a multibillion-pound global business but in resisting repeated attempts to snatch the glittering prize from his control.Ecclestone has never before revealed how he graduated from selling second-hand cars in London's notorious Warren Street to become the major player he is today. He has finally decided to reveal his secrets: the deals, the marriages, the disasters and the successes in Formula One racing, in Downing Street, in casinos, on yachts and in the air.

Thoughts

Bower was alongside Ecclestone as he meandered through the Monaco Grand Prix last year, and that is where the biography begins, following Bernie as he hobnobs with the rich and famous. It’s a jarring way to begin the story, a first chapter filled with assumed knowledge and irrelevant characters. As a glimpse of Bernie’s presumably hectic and celebrity filled life, it does the job, but as a reader, it is about as off putting as a first chapter can be.

Thankfully, from the second chapter onwards, things improve somewhat. Although the writing can be far too wordy, and sometimes even exhausting, the narrative begins to make more sense.

This book highlights Bernie’s great capacity for getting the most out of any business deal, and the narrative revels in giving the utmost detail in the major turning points in both Bernie and Formula One’s financial life.

Likely aimed at the diehard F1 fan only, there’s little colour to grab hold of, but a few stories that really illustrate the character we’re dealing with.

Rating: 1 / 5