Susan Watkins has written acclaimed biographies of Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I and Jane Austen. She has lectured internationally on her historical subjects, and recently has written a stageplay and screenplay on the Guinea Pig Club and Sir Archibald McIndoe, maverick WWII plastic surgeon. Married to Prof Sid Watkins, F1 surgical and safety consultant, she has been an F1 insider since the early 1980s, and her extended family has included Ayrton Senna, James Hunt, Jackie Stewart and Stirling Moss.

Childhood in Suffolk, set against the background of his family's experiences of the Second World War. Early entrepreneurial achievements in the post-war period, buying and selling motorcycles, and the beginnings of Bernie's infatuation with motor racing. The expansion of his commercial enterprises and his growing involvement in driving racing cars as well as buying and selling them. Involvement with the Cooper and Brabham Formula One teams, and Bernie's reaction to the death of his close friend Jochen Rindt. The reorganisation of Formula One that followed Bernie gaining control over the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA), and his enduring friendship and collaboration with Max Mosley. Transforming Formula One into a global brand, beginning in the late 1970s. Anonymous contributions to charities, and at times difficult relationships with family and friends, contrast with Bernie's ruthlessness as a businessman.