AutoItalia – July 2019

BOOKSHELF

Ferrari: All the Cars
(Fifth Edition)
By Leonardo Acerbi
Giorgio Nada Editore
£24

If you want one solidly
reliable volume that
summarises every single
model ever made by
Ferrari, you can’t do
better than this book by
Leonardo Acerbi. It’s now
into its fifth edition,
having sold over 100,000
copies to date.
It’s been expanded to
bring us up to date with
the very latest Ferraris
such as the 812
Superfast and Monza
SP1/SP2. Also new in this

edition are Pininfarina’s

Ferrari concept cars –

hooray! – such as the 365

P Speciale, 250 P5, P6,

512 S, Modulo and Sergio.

This is definitely not a

coffee table book,

whether in size,

aesthetics or scope. What

it is, is more of a compact

but essential reference

work. Its 504 pages are

packed with information

that’s succinct, pertinent

and – above all in this age

of regrettable

disinformation –

unerringly accurate.

That’s not surprising, as

the author is an

acknowledged master

historian of the marque.

Every Ferrari model gets

a two-page spread to

itself, whether it’s a

Formula 1 racer, a road car

or a concept. To illustrate

each, there’s a side-on

artist’s profile in colour

(painted by the talented

Giorgio Alisi), plus one

other real-life photo. This

is one of my only

criticisms of the book:

these photos are very

small and often look like

‘snaps’ taken by the side

of the road.

The text is all in English

and very readable,

although the latest

entries in this new edition

read less fluidly than

earlier ones. Detailed

technical tables provide

most of the essential

data you’ll ever need, too.

In summary, this

hardbound book is not

only fantastic value but

also, for fact-lovers and

Ferrari fans, the essential

work of reference.

Michael Schumacher: A

Life in Pictures

By Pino Allievi

Giorgio Nada Editore

£44

The latest subject in the

Giorgio Nada ‘A Life in

Pictures’ series – which

has already covered

Ayrton Senna, Monza

racetrack and Giacomo

Agostini, among others –

is Michael Schumacher.

The publisher describes

him as “the greatest of all

time” and it’s hard to

disagree. His years at

Scuderia Ferrari,

starting when

the Prancing

Horse seemed

like an old nag,

were

transformative.

His story is so

well known,

told so many

times and in so

many other

books; how

could this book

offer anything

new? But it

called ‘Hidden Friends’

quotes stories from

little-known

acquaintances to whom

he opened up perhaps

more than to others.

As for Michael’s F1

exploits, Allevi picks 10

“masterpiece” races,

assesses his rivalry with

Senna and even devotes a

chapter to Eddie Irvine.

The episode of

Schumacher’s skiing

accident cannot but loom

large in any account of his

life; in this book, it is very

sensitively covered.

As the title of the book

suggests, excellent

imagery appears

throughout this lusciously

produced, 208-page

volume, but to treat it as

a picture book would be

wrong. There’s such

excellent story-telling

here that you come away

feeling you know the man

much more intimately.

does. The publisher’s

stated aim with this

volume was to search for

stories that have never

yet been told: “The man

behind the driver, with his

loves, his manias, his

passion concealed behind

a veil of stubborn

reserve,” they say.

There are indeed some

fascinating insights,

since the author, Pino

Allievi, worked as a

journalist throughout the

Schumacher years and

was close to him. (You’ll

find out why he sold his

Bugatti EB110, for

instance). The author

calls him “unscrupulous

and talented from the

outset” and doesn’t shy

away from the

controversies of his

career. There are lots of

insightful interviews with

those who worked

alongside him. A

fascinating chapter