Michael Schumacher - the most successful Grand Prix driver of all time - remained a quiet-spoken, private family man. This book tells his full story, from humble beginnings to fashioning Ferrari in his own image, from a home-made kart to his very last race in China in October 2006 and the thrilling battle for the eighth World Championship.

Michael Schumacher - the most successful Grand Prix driver of all time - remained a quiet-spoken, private family man throughout his controversial career. The global celebrity was a global stranger. This is his full story, from humble beginnings to fashioning Ferrari in his own image, from a home-made kart to his very last race in China in October 2006 and the thrilling battle for the eighth World Championship. Best-selling Formula 1 biographer Christopher Hilton draws on an immense number of sources to celebrate this unique, fascinating and turbulent career as well as revealing who the stranger really is.

• * Original interviews, material published in several languages, and in-depth new research.

  * His entire motorsport history, from childhood karting to retirement as Ferrari's ultimate icon.

  * All the controversies, and crashes, including the incident at Monaco in 2006 when he was yet again accused of cheating.

  * Schumacher in his own words.

  * Candid interviews with rivals, co-drivers and team principals.

  * What he meant to Formula 1 fans and his own countrymen.

  * Race statistics plus accounts of every Grand Prix he drove.