Richard Hammond is one of our most in-demand and best-loved TV presenters.

On September 20, 2006, he suffered a serious brain injury in a high-speed car crash, and the nation held its breath.

On The Edge is his compelling account of life before and after the accident and an honest description of his year of recovery, full of drama and incident.

It is also, perhaps, his explanation of why, as a married man and father of two young daughters, he was prepared to risk all by strapping himself to the front of a jet engine with the power of 11 Formula One cars.

A daredevil and a petrolhead long before his association with Top Gear, Richard tells the story of his life as an adrenalin junkie, from the small boy showing off with ridiculous stunts on his bicycle to the adolescent with a near-obsessive attraction to speed and the smell of petrol. After a series of jobs in local radio, he graduated to TV, and eventually to Top Gear, one of the world's most popular shows, upgrading his car with each step up the ladder.

His insights into the personalities, the camaraderie and, of Course, the stunts for which Top Gear has become famous make compulsive reading.