There are a few reasons for this. One is that the Formula One press corps is sufficiently huge that Michael could never get to know them all on an intimate basis even if he wanted to. The second is, simply, that he doesn't want to. We may not know much about Schumacher, but one thing we do know is that he likes to keep a wide gulf between the racing world and the personal world. Throw in an ambivalent attitude toward the media generally - Schumacher accepts that speaking into cameras and tape recorders goes with the territory, but doesn't concern himself with it much beyond that - and you get a person who is famous and wealthy beyond comprehension, whose stats and exploits are known to the nth degree, but about whom we really know very little. His view, of course, is: why should we? And at the end of the day, he's right … but it doesn't stop people from wondering.

So much of what is deemed 'accepted' knowledge about Schumacher is actually second-hand, filtered through the eyes of a journalist who may or may not be close to the mark. This is echoed in the words of those who are in the inner sanctum - people like Ross Brawn, who has often commented on the fact that the Michael that he reads about in newpapers, magazines and on the web, is remarkably different to the Michael that he works shoulder-to-shoulder with every day.

That being the case, the fact that this book comes from within Schumacher's world, rather that from someone standing on the outside looking in, helps to make it one of the year's most pleasant surprises. In most cases, an 'official' biography of a current racer - written, no less, by the subject's PR person - would be something that should be handled only by those wearing protective gloves. Instead, we have Michael as honest and reflective as we've ever seen him, and it makes for intriguing reading.

Among the most striking aspects of this book is that it highlights how both Schumacher, and the public perception of him, has changed in the years since he switched from Benetton to Ferrari. Jerez 1997, which was the scene of the incident that single-handedly defined the way Schumacher was viewed over the rest of the 1990s, now seems like ancient history. And Adelaide 1994? There are now F1 fans who were not even born when the German won his first title after clashing with rival Damon Hill in the last race of the year. Neither incident has been forgotten, but in a weird way it seems that Schumacher has earned himself a kind of redemption in the years since.

It's worth noting that although this book pays astonishingly little attention to Schumacher's years at Benetton, or even his initial years with Ferrari, both of these incidents are tackled head-on in the opening few pages.

The reflection upon Jerez is particularly interesting:

'On lap 48, and with Michael ahead of the Canadian, there was a collision which would have serious consequences for the German's image and would shroud the race in scandal. When Villeneuve, clearly the faster of the two, suddenly attacked and tried to overtake, Schumacher rammed his Ferrari into the Williams in an act of desperation and slid off ignominiously into the gravel trap. Later accused of making a mistake, he slithered around no less.

'It took me a long time to see what I'd done. I probably didn't want to admit it. At first, I really thought that Jacques was not in front of me, and that it was my right to defend my line. And there were a lot of points which confirmed my initial conviction. For instance, we were summoned by the stewards, and they judged that it had been a normal racing incident. Nothing particularly serious, they said, and I thought: there you go, that's what I thought.'

'But while Michael was having a joke in the tent, chatting to Bernie Ecclestone about skiing and taking a belated lunch with his mechanics and engineers, out in the paddock there was a mounting sense of indignation, which during the course of the next day would swell to a tide of worldwide outrage … Michael felt no sense of guilt, and had completely misread the seriousness of the situation. 'Not until the evening did my misguided conviction about the accident start to fall apart,' he says. 'I remember it exactly because I was absolutely stunned when our president Luca di Montezemolo said to me something along the lines of 'What on earth have you done?" and I thought, I beg your pardon? How come I'm suddenly the idiot? He was the first to approach me about it, and in the course of the next few weeks I came to recognise that I was in the wrong, and had made a mistake. Since then, I have repeatedly said that if there is one thing I could do over again in Formula One, it would be the race at Jerez in 1997. (p. 20-21).

This sets the tone for a pleasantly well-balanced account of Schumacher's career and public life that makes no apology for celebrating his achievements, but refuses to dodge events or traits that may portray him a little less flatteringly. It's 'matter-of-fact', as opposed to 'warts-and-all'. This extends to those against whom Schumacher has raced. Hill and Villeneuve are relatively anonymous, which initially seems odd, considering that both of them were involved in tight scraps for the championship with Michael. But when you read of his immense respect for another powerful rival - Mika Hakkinen - you start to wonder whether the relegation of the other two to near-footnote status says something in itself.

Eddie Irvine also rates little mention, but his one real appearance is startlingly blunt:

'Stronger than ever, Michael returned (from injury) for the last two races of the season, to lend Irvine all the support he could. But in the climax to the 1999 season in Suzuka, Irvine began to feel the pressure, was too slow, and found himself 45 seconds behind Michael'. (p. 43). Nothing like telling it how it is!

With just 73 pages allocated to text there is not much space in this book for padding, and the book moves along at a fantastic pace as a result. If ever you wanted proof that 73 pages of good words are better than 350 pages of waffle, look no further than here. The bulk of the book is given over to Michel Comte's photos. Although these images really play the starring role in this volume, I couldn't help but feel that they were a little more hit-and-miss than the text was. Some are sensational, some are a bit average, but when you pull it all together it works quite well as a package.