From bestselling author, racer and stunt driver Ben Collins - the man who was The Stig - comes a story of spies, speed and hard-driving genius: a driver's love letter to one of the world's best-loved machines. Aston Martin's first, wickedly fast models were forged at a time when Ferrari's premises at Maranello was nothing but a ploughed field. This book celebrates a century of innovators who kept the fire burning brightly for over a century, from the visionary pioneers Martin and Bamford to modern-day design guru Adrian Newey; from a glamorous web of pre- and post-war spies and racing drivers, to David Brown and the achingly beautiful DB models beloved of Bonds past and present. Ben Collins explores the car with the double-o prefix from a unique perspective behind the wheel, carving through country lanes in his father's V8 Vantage, driving Aston Martins in four James Bond movies and competing against them in the legendary Le Mans 24-hour race. Ultimately, this is a very British success story: of a triumph of engineering that has burned brightly from the Roaring 20s to the 2020s, and an iconic car that never says die.

The Stig gets his kit off and reveals how he came to be Top Gear's iconic racing driver and so much more - including what it's like to thrash an Aston Martin DBS, train for the Army and face the terror of Jeremy Clarkson's underwear

When the Black Stig disappeared off the end of an aircraft carrier in 2003, we were introduced to The White Stig. Faster. Stranger. Harder to keep clean. And ever since, millions have wondered who is The Man in the White Suit? They're about to find out.

Ben Collins caught the car the bug young, kicking his dad's boss in the balls for not giving him a company Jag. This was the attitude that eventually led him to spend seven years sharing a cabin with Jeremy Clarkson's underwear, James May's PhD thesis and Richard Hammond's hairspray. Because he is The Stig.

Now he tells all about life inside the iconic white helmet. What it's like to guide a blind ex-RAF officer around the Top Gear track; pit a drug dealer's Mitsubishi Evo against a Trojan tank; set a Vauxhall Monara against Chloe the dancing Ninja; and race double-decker Routemasters against bendy buses. Not to mention all the inside stuff on how the show's amazing driving sequences are made.

He also reveals how he got to be there settinga Dunsfold lap time faster than Michael Schumacher's. Breaking records with the best of the best at Daytona and Le Mans.

It's an awesome story, told by an amazing man."

'This pacy history of a legendary brand is a love letter to an era of gears and gasoline now accelerating towards its twilight' - Financial Times '[Told] with a genuine affection ... a glorious tale of British seat-of-the-pants invention' - Mail on Sunday --------- From bestselling author, racer and stunt driver Ben Collins - the man who was The Stig - comes a story of spies, speed and hard-driving genius: a driver's love letter to one of the world's best-loved machines. Aston Martin's first, wickedly fast models were forged at a time when Ferrari's premises at Maranello was nothing but a ploughed field. This book celebrates a century of innovators who kept the fire burning brightly for over a century, from the visionary pioneers Martin and Bamford to modern-day design guru Adrian Newey; from a glamorous web of pre- and post-war spies and racing drivers, to David Brown and the achingly beautiful DB models beloved of Bonds past and present. Ben Collins explores the car with the double-o prefix from a unique perspective behind the wheel, carving through country lanes in his father's V8 Vantage, driving Aston Martins in four James Bond movies and competing against them in the legendary Le Mans 24-hour race. Ultimately, this is a very British success story: of a triumph of engineering that has burned brightly from the Roaring 20s to the 2020s, and an iconic car that never says die.

In the course of their 20+-year engineering careers, authors Brian Fitzpatrick and Ben Collins-Sussman have picked up a treasure trove of wisdom and anecdotes about how successful teams work together. Their conclusion? Even among people who have spent decades learning the technical side of their jobs, most haven't really focused on the human component. Learning to collaborate is just as important to success. If you invest in the "soft skills" of your job, you can have a much greater impact for the same amount of effort. The authors share their insights on how to lead a team effectively, navigate an organization, and build a healthy relationship with the users of your software. This is valuable information from two respected software engineers whose popular series of talks-including "Working with Poisonous People"-has attracted hundreds of thousands of followers.

Growing up during The Troubles, I was determined that I was not going to be forced into Irish unity by terrorist violence or the threat of it. At the time, there was no space to think about a different future. But since then, we have had peace, however imperfect it may be, and we now have the opportunity to freely decide our fate. Why will everyone living on the island of Ireland benefit from Irish unity? How will the referendum be won? Do we need to start preparing now? What will happen when Ireland is reunified? Disillusioned with the state of pro-union politics in Britain and Northern Ireland, scarred by what he and many others see as a detrimental vote for Brexit and determined to heal the wounds inflicted by partition, Ben Collins sets out a multitude of political, social and economic benefits of removing the border on the island of Ireland, once and for all. Written from the viewpoint of an East Belfast-born former UUP campaigner, Irish Unity: Time to Prepare addresses the concerns of unionists in Northern Ireland and sceptics in the Republic and urges everyone on the island of Ireland to escape the crumbling United Kingdom so that we can build a peaceful and prosperous future together, for ourselves and our children.

Growing up during The Troubles, I was determined that I was not going to be forced into Irish unity by terrorist violence or the threat of it. At the time, there was no space to think about a different future. But since then, we have had peace, however imperfect it may be, and we now have the opportunity to freely decide our fate. Why will everyone living on the island of Ireland benefit from Irish unity? How will the referendum be won? Do we need to start preparing now? What will happen when Ireland is reunified? Disillusioned with the state of pro-union politics in Britain and Northern Ireland, scarred by what he and many others see as a detrimental vote for Brexit and determined to heal the wounds inflicted by partition, Ben Collins sets out a multitude of political, social and economic benefits of removing the border on the island of Ireland, once and for all. Written from the viewpoint of an East Belfast-born former UUP campaigner, Irish Unity: Time to Prepare addresses the concerns of unionists in Northern Ireland and sceptics in the Republic and urges everyone on the island of Ireland to escape the crumbling United Kingdom so that we can build a peaceful and prosperous future together, for ourselves and our children.

The 2012 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) deals with some 33,000 applications for compensation each year. It has, since 1964, been one of the principal means by which the state aims to meet victims' expectations following an offence of violence, but it also displays a clear doctrinal effort to differentiate 'deserving' from 'undeserving' victims. Over much of the same period criminal courts and agencies have enjoyed powers to order offenders to pay compensation to their victims, most recently as an element of restorative justice. Split into two parts, Criminal Injuries Compensation is an authoritative analysis of the statutory provisions governing these various remedies. Part One, State Compensation, analyses the Scheme's defining provisions: what constitutes 'a criminal injury', what persons and injuries may be compensated, the rules governing the victim's own conduct and character, the assessment of the award, and the procedures governing applications, appeals and judicial review. Part Two, Offender Compensation, analyses the conditions under which a criminal court may make a compensation order as an element of its sentencing decision, concluding with the potential of restorative justice to deliver offender compensation to victims. The book also touches on the wider political and criminal justice context of compensation. Written and edited by an expert academic and practitioner team, Criminal Injuries Compensation is an essential text for all those with an interest in understanding the statutory, judicial and administrative rules that govern state and offender payment of compensation to victims of violent crime.