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No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone
 
 
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No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone [Kindle Edition]

Tom Bower (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
Print List Price: £9.99
Kindle Price: £4.79 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £5.20 (52%)
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Review

'In Tom Bower, Ecclestone has found the ideal biographer. This magnificent book, based on characteristically intensive research, can only add to Bower's already formidable reputation ...' --Sunday Telegraph

'A marvellous book, with a great story to tell, and many wonderful smaller stories as well.' --Daily Mail

'A vastly insightful work that peels away the layers guarding this most unusually protected and inscrutable of men ... For once, though, with this riveting biography, Ecclestone's levers have deserted him. Underneath his skin, away from the negotiating table, he is exposed as human after all.' --Evening Standard

Book Description

A riveting account of the remorseless rise of Bernie Ecclestone, the international Formula One tycoon.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Riveting, but flawed. 13 Mar 2011
By Gongoozler
Format:Hardcover
No Angel is a riveting read and goes a long way toward unravelling the complex network of companies and trusts that, over the years, have established control of the immensely profitable business of Formula One.
It does not, however, reveal anything that was not already known or suspected although it certainly underlines the power that Ecclestone continues to wield, as well as his obsessively secretive and manipulative nature and the fact that that he seems able to operate highly successfully in international financial circles using exactly the same crude techniques that he learnt as a second-hand car dealer in Warren Street in the 1950s.
I wish that the publisher had employed an editor with some basic knowledge of motor racing parlance. The book will, presumably, be read mainly by those with an interest in F1 and many of the expressions used, whilst not actually wrong, are not ones that would be used by those with even a passing knowledge of the sport. There are also several glaring factual errors which any competent editor or proof-reader should have picked up.
Worth reading if you have an interest in Formula One but probably a little boring for those who don't.
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79 of 84 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Sloppy and inaccurate, wasting a great opportunity 10 Mar 2011
By AP
Format:Hardcover
I was really looking forward to this book, but sadly its sloppy approach to fact checking left me disappointed and feeling I couldn't trust what I was reading.

In the notes section, author Tom Bower says he had Ecclestone's cooperation and spend a lot of time with the F1 boss.

He says that led to many of those close to Ecclestone also granting interviews.

In the weeks before it was published Ecclestone withdrew is support, saying that Bower had broken the terms of their arrangement by writing about his stormy relationship with ex-wife Slavica.

This spat essentially made the book unauthorised which made me want to read it even more.

Bower does a competent enough job of telling the story of Ecclestone's early life as used car dealer who goes on to build up one of the most lucrative sports in the world.

It's when we get into the 80s/90s/00s that the really juicy tales start to emerge.

Sadly this book is seriously let down by its numerous mistakes.

There are plenty of typos.

Time after time prominent figures in Formula One have their names mis-spelt. (Theussen instead of Thiessen, Permayne instead of Permane. The list goes on...)

But the worst problem is the lack of factual accuracy. There are dozens of real howlers that would jump off the page to most serious F1 followers.

For instance, several times he talks about the Toyota F1 team having never reached the podium. Untrue. He gets the date of Senna's infamous deliberate collision with Prost at Suzuka wrong by two years. He writes about the first Grand Prix in Melbourne being in 1995 (it was a year later).... Read more ›
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43 of 47 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars No surprises: sloppy, poorly written and unrevealing 23 Mar 2011
By 4u1e
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Look, Ecclestone doesn't make it easy for biographers. He's spent years encouraging various legends about his past to circulate, effectively setting traps for later writers. He tried to buy Terry Lovell's 2004 biography 'Bernie's Game', and certainly got his fingers into its contents. He put Susan Watkins biography 'Bernie' on hold for five years or so before finally allowing it to be released just in time to steal 'No Angel's thunder. Even so, surely Bower could have done a better job than this?

Yes, this rapidly knocked together book is a broadly accurate picture of Ecclestone's life. And that's not really surprising, because despite what the book's cover would have you believe, pretty much everything here has been covered before in the three previous biographies, two team histories of Brabham, various other books on Formula One and many magazine and newspaper articles. Bower's strongest influence is Terry Lovell's 2008 King of Sport (extensively cited in the notes section), and his book follows pretty much the same story from Ecclestone's birth in 1930 through to the present day. Bower had access to slightly different selection of interviewees, but this has added little to earlier accounts.

The biggest problem for me was Bower has no feel whatsoever for motor racing, and plainly didn't go to the trouble of employing a researcher or proofreader who did. If you know the sport, you'll read some sections of the book with a furrowed brow as you try and translate Bower's idiosyncratic terminology. Then there are the widely-reported errors. The book is littered with motorsport howlers: Reutemann as world champion, Brabham winning three championships with his own team, etc etc.... Read more ›
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Poor effort, virtually unreadable 26 May 2011
By James v B
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I must echo the other reviewers rating this book at one star.

I was not so much interested in a chronological account of the emergence of Ecclestone and Formula One, as I was in the story behind the facts. However, Bower seems entirely unable to tell a story. I had to stop at page 106, as I simply couldn't read on. This book is no more than a collection of notes thrown carelessly together, without a thread or a coherent narrative.

It is frankly dull and even for an avid F1 fan and someone with a keen interest in the politics and business behind F1, this book is nothing less than awful.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for F1 fans.
For anyone with an interest in F1, especially what's happening in the back ground, this is a must read. Bernie, has a brilliant mind, a true dealer and go getter.
Published 4 days ago by Mr Guy Read
5.0 out of 5 stars He,s no angel.
This is an insight into the "politics"of Formula !, and thanks to his experience in selling used cars and playing poker Bernie is always at least two steps ahead of the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by fordie eo4a
4.0 out of 5 stars No Angle: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone
Having read first 40 odd pages I thought this book is well written and researched by Tom Bower. Can't wait to finish reading all 396 pages. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. S. S. Khatu
3.0 out of 5 stars Glad I bought it on Kindle
I am an avid biography fan and usually buy in hardback - as they are often revisited or loaned out.
In this case it is an interesting read but not one I would not revisit.
Published 6 months ago by mike woolaghan
4.0 out of 5 stars Inside story of unique entrepreneur
Lots of detailed information. Fascinating information on how the Formula one circus has developed into the excellent global show it has become
Published 6 months ago by Dr D Eakins
4.0 out of 5 stars Bower gets amongst the F1 Glitterati
A fascinating biography of Ecclestone. He is a completely despicable man, and yet he is the one who has made F1 what it is today.
Published 8 months ago by Half Man, Half Book
1.0 out of 5 stars Good Opportunity, Wrong Author
I was really looking forward to finally reading this book as a passionate racing fan who, like so many others, has wondered for years about how Bernie has such overwhelmeing... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Blue Brazil
2.0 out of 5 stars read chapter 1 somewhere: but don't bother buying it
interesting character mr. ecclestone but the writer makes no attempt to distil his research into any kind of coherent story. Read more
Published 11 months ago by J. Byrne
4.0 out of 5 stars No Angel
What a surprise,I am really enjoying this book. It has had some bad reviews which stopped me buying it before. Amazon made it a special Kindle book of the day. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Vulcan
1.0 out of 5 stars Well, I did try
I used to be a big F1 fan and would always set the alarm to get up in the small hours to watch the Grand Prix races from the other side of the world. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Devon John
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