On the road : growing up in eight journeys - my early years

ON THE ROAD: GROWING UP IN EIGHT JOURNEYS - MY EARLY YEARS is a new form of autobiography, in which TOP GEAR presenter Richard Hammond tells the story of his early life through a series of significant driving episodes.

He's a child in the back seat of Dad's car on the way to the seaside in Weston-Super-Mare.

He's on his first bike, a red one, in Solihull, then on his first motorcycle, a Honda MTX50.

He's at the wheel of his first car (and in the back with his first girlfriend).

He is driving a furniture delivery van as part of his first job in and around Ripon.

Now he is showing off with a friend, risking everything. ON THE ROAD is an emotional road map in which each chapter has its own registration number, and its own distinctive interior.

Most importantly, each chapter sets off and arrives.

ON THE ROAD surges on to its destination, reversing or moving quickly through the gears, reliving the central episodes and conflicts of Richard's life.

Every chapter is a stage in a longer journey. Although there are precious few road-rage monologues against four-wheel drivers and men in vests in white vans, Richard Hammond's readers will quickly recognise the funny self-deprecating and balanced ease that has made him one of Britain's best-loved writers and television presenters.