I was Top Gear's script editor for 13 years and all 22 series. I basically used to check spelling and think of stupid gags about The Stig. I also got to hang around with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. It didn't feel like something you should get paid for. From the disastrous pilot show of 2002 to the sudden and unexpected ending in 2015, working on Top Gear was quite a rollercoaster ride. We crossed continents, we made space ships, we bobbed across the world's busiest shipping lane in a pick-up truck. We also got chased by an angry mob, repeatedly sparked fury in newspapers, and almost killed one of our presenters. I realised that I had quite a few stories to tell from behind the scenes on the show. I remembered whose daft idea it was to get a dog. I recalled the willfully stupid way in which we decorated our horrible office. I had a sudden flashback to the time a Bolivian drug lord threatened to kill us. I decided I should write down some of these stories. So I have. I hope you like them. And now, a quote from James May: 'Richard Porter has asked me to "write a quote" for his new book about the ancient history of Top Gear. But this is a ridiculous request. How can one "write a quote"? Surely, by definition, a quote must be extracted from a greater body of writing, for the purpose of illustrating or supporting a point in an unrelated work. I cannot "write a quote" any more than I could "film an out-take". 'Porter, like Athens, has lost his marbles.'

We now know all about the world according to Clarkson. .In a series of bestselling books, Jeremy has revealed it to be a puzzling, frustrating place where all too often the lunatics seem to be running the asylum. But in The Top Gear Years, we get something rather different.

The Stig, Top Gear's tame racing driver, is off on another adventure, this time following his passion for speed and adrenaline to its natural conclusion - motorsport. Stig has disappeared into the world of racing, and it's your job to find him. Follow Stig as he roams from the stifling heat of the Dakar rally to the redneck heartland of a NASCAR track, or from the nightime drama or Le Mans to the mud-soaked stands of Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. Along the way you'll also find Clarkson, Hammond and May as they indulge in a spot of home-made motorhome racing or Roman rallying, middle-eastern style. The Where's Stig books have taken Top Gear fans by storm - and his latest voyage is the most action packed yet!

In this unique bible of motoring coolness, Top Gear's Matt Master recounts the stories behind history's greatest cars, from pre-war vintage motors to the supercars of the future, pairing stunning Top Gear photography and rarely seen archive photographs with expert commentary.

Following up on Crap Cars and My Dad Had One of Those, Top Gear celebrates the midlife crisis with the definitive collection of the flashest, fastest, most impractical cars ever to be found in the driveways of otherwise perfectly sensible men. Drawing on the high level of expertise in this area, Top Gear explores the phenomenon of motoring and the midlife crisis, identifying over 50 classics of the genre across four desperate decades. From Ford Capri to Ferrari Testarossa, it celebrates the flashest, fastest and most ridiculous attempts to cover a bald spot, meanwhile offering a profound insight into the complex psychology of a middle-aged man and his quest for eternal youth. Top Gear's Midlife Crisis Cars both rejoices and recoils at the time-honoured tradition of flushing the children's inheritance on something you're too arthritic to get into in the first place.

Every year, Top Gear dispatches correspondents to cover many serious stories around the world. Wherever they go, they ask tough questions and leave no stone unturned in search of the cold, hard truth. Questions such as: Is it possible to drive a Ferrari up a Scottish ski slope? Exactly how far can you drive a bulldozer across the Antarctic before it falls down a big crack? And what happens when you drive a small 4X4 up a volcano, during an earthquake, with a high chance of eruption? The answers to all of the above – and more – can be found in Top Gear Top Drives, a new book featuring Top Gear’s best adventures, neatly arranged in precise geographic order: top, middle and bottom. These are not Sunday drives to country pubs. You will not find any mentions of freshly cut grass and picnics under oak trees. In fact, you are more likely to encounter roadside landmines and a pack of Chilean llamas with a relaxed approach to personal hygiene. Of course you will also find supercars on winding mountain passes, but this book goes much further, bringing you the most unusual combinations of car and tarmac – or lack of it – from across our planet. All of which are accompanied by a surprisingly useful collection of travel tips, featuring such useful advice as when to go, what the weather’s like and where to find a reasonably priced beer. Like any classic travel guide, you really shouldn’t leave home without it. Unless you write down the really important bits, in which case you’ll probably be OK.

This is the full story of the unstoppable rise of Clarkson, Hammond, May and The Stig and how they have transformed an ordinary programme about cars into one of the most famous and best-loved TV programmes of the 21st century.

RHYMES & CHIMES FROM MOTHER GOOSE was published originally between 1863 and 1870 by McLoughlin Brothers, New York, New York.

Whether it's through raw power, elegant curves or just an eye-watering price tag, there are a small number of cars that mark the pinnacle of automotive design - and now the experts at Top Gear have chosen the very best of them. 'Dream Cars' is a celebration of the cars that achieve that perfect blend of art and engineering.

Crossing the channel in a battered pick-up truck. Cruising the streets in a convertible people-carrier. Firing up a snowbine harvester to clear a runway for a plane to (crash) land.