On the Edge: My Story »

Richard Hammond is internationally famous for cohosting Top Gear over the last four years with Jeremy Clarkson. His previous books include Can You Feel The Force? and Richard Hammond's Car Confidential.

From the first ridiculous stunts on his tricycle to his increasing and near obsessive attraction to speed and the smell of gas, this is the high-octane life of TV personality Richard Hammond. A lively and intelligent communicator, TV soon beckoned for Hammond. He became one of the daredevil trio—along with Jeremy Clarkson and James May—who have made an enormous, world-wide success of the revamped BBC TV program Top Gear. Hammond describes the personalities, the camaraderie, and the stunts with which the trio entertains their weekly audiences, including the day of his 300 MPH crash that took his show off the air, put him into a coma, and plunged a nation into mourning. The stages of recovery as his shattered mind reformed are covered, as are the milestones in his slow recovery to full health and his return to Top Gear.

Preparing for the North Pole     1
The Early Years of an Adrenalin Junkie     5
From Local Radio to Top Gear     20
What a Job!     43
The Jet Car - Just Another Day at the Office     55
20 September 2006     66
Mindy's Story     97
Leeds General Infirmary     119
He is Not Going to Die     128
Hello, Darling     139
A Waiting Game     182
The Move to Bristol     205
Did You Know Swans Mate for Life?     213
Escape to Scotland     249
The Cottage in the Highlands     269
Going Home     294
Afterword     301
Acknowledgements     307