Amazon.co.uk Review
The drivers and teams changed, but for as long as most people can remember, Murray Walker--fast, furious and very flappable--was the voice of Formula One. In
Unless I'm Very Much Mistaken, the much-loved commentator reflects on a unique career with all the style and enthusiasm that he brought to his broadcasts
Whether he's talking about his first experiences of motor sport as a competitor, his time in the army, his career in advertising, his transition from media part-timer to media legend or his retirement from frontline F1 broadcasts at the end of the 2001 season, Walker has a fascinating story to tell--and he retains his journalist's sense of what the people really want to know. He shares his face-to-face knowledge of motor sport gods like Fangio and Enzo Ferrari and recalls his less daunting encounters with British luminaries such as Nigel Mansell, the Hills, Jackie Stewart and James Hunt, including the occasion when the latter pair sniped at each other in a memorable commentary box match-up. There's also a good selection of the best Murrayisms, such as "And the battle is well and truly on if it wasn't before, and it certainly was!", "There's nothing wrong with the car except it's on fire!" and "I just stopped my startwatch".
Tremendous admiration for the skills and courage of the stars of his sport epitomises the Walker approach. This is no doubt fuelled by his own slightly fraught attempt at piloting a Formula One car in 1983 and by his experience at less pedestrian speed 15 years later when he was strapped into a two-seater McLaren behind co-commentator Martin Brundle. But he also gently settles one or two scores along the way. Elsewhere he reflects on the itinerary of affection so peculiar to the life of a British celebrity--This Is Your Life, Desert Island Discs and an OBE--and on his private life, his hugely influential parents, his late and happy marriage and what he hopes retirement will bring. It's a tribute to the man's singular voice that so much of the tone of this book is unmistakably Murray. It's not high-octane blunder-speckled race vintage, but the scripted television style he has made his own, a more measured bombast that makes this generously illustrated tome very easy to like. --Alex Hankin
Review
'The sheer force and sincerity of his enthusiasm has long made him the most imitated as well as the most loved broadcaster in British life' Daily Telegraph
To most people in the UK and throughout the Commonwealth and beyond, Murray Walker is the voice of motor sport. There can be little surprise about that - he made his first radio and television broadcasts in 1949 and only retired from commentating in 2001 at the age of 78. In the intervening half-century Walker commentated on hundreds of engine-powered races involving everything from trucks to boats via motorcycles, his first love. He became best known, however, for his work in Formula One, delighting or irritating millions around the world with his full-throttle delivery. Walker could inject excitement into what might appear to the casual observer as the dullest of processions through the force of his personality. Given that Walker has always appeared to have excess energy to burn, it is little wonder that, until 1982, broadcasting was not even his full-time profession. He enjoyed a successful career in advertising, treating commentary work almost as a weekend hobby. Walker feels blessed to have been able to enjoy such a full life and shares some of the many highlights with typical gusto. He covers his childhood, his distinguished service in tanks during the Second World War, and his 'proper' job in advertising, but most people will come to this book for the roar of the engines and Walker does not sell them short. Page after page is devoted to discussion and reminiscences about all manner of motor sport and those who take part. Walker writes with great affection about the riders and drivers he has known and the thrilling races that have fuelled his passion: Fangio, Moss, Mansell, Surtees, Senna, Schumacher, the mere mention of these and other great names will delight enthusiasts. Walker rarely has a bad word to say about anybody - this is a celebration of a long and fulfilled life, not a tabloid-courting rant - but readers will sense some residual tension from his working relationship with the late James Hunt, the F1 champion who shared the commentary box with Walker for over a decade. Walker emerges as a decent, passionate, extremely hardworking man who is in no mood to slow down just yet. The book zips along with the same pace as one of Walker's commentaries and readers may find themselves stopping every few pages in order that both they and the author might catch their breath. (Kirkus UK)
by Murray Walker
by Christopher Hilton
by Nigel Mansell
by David Coulthard
by Martin Brundle
