This book illustrates his character and is well worth a read for fans of motorsport 

Barry's Biography

In 'Barry', communications guru Nick Harris and former team-mate Steve Parrish recount the life and loves of the last Briton to win a motorcycle world championship and indeed grand prix - Barry Sheene. The mythical figure of the cockney boy made good looms large in British motorsport and this book is a game attempt to throw light upon the man that caused a million housewives' hearts to flutter.

The narrator remains largely anonymous as the story is told from the perspective of many people whose lives were interwoven with Barry's.

While this gives a wide overview of the various aspects that made up his character, it can also hinder matters. In the first chapter, for instance, the narrative strives to represent everyone's final experiences of Sheene, leading to repetition.

The story is not told entirely chronologically, which may confuse slightly as jumps in time are generally better used in fiction. However, this gives focus to each chapter and therefore to the book as a whole while minimising repetition of countless races and shenanigans away from the circuit.

These shenanigans make entertaining reading. Incidents such as Sheene accidentally landing his helicopter on the bowling green of a nursing home in Scarborough and almost losing his car and trailer underwater when attempting to launch a boat amuse and throw light upon his persona, while detailed accounts of his heavy crashes at Daytona and Silverstone are equally fascinating.

There is a tendency to over-glamorise the subject, hardly a surprise given the authors' proximity to his personal life. But nevertheless, you get the impression that they are glossing over his shortcomings as a human being, though not ignoring them altogether.

Although the elaborate jokes, outrageous antics and machismo image are all part and parcel of what made Sheene so dear to the British public, there is more of the man behind the myth to be found in the words of his widow Stephanie: "Barry could not understand why the things he said upset people."

The eulogistic quality of much of the prose ("He would do anything for anyone; he gave more favours than he called in") does not prevent fragments of bitterness against him or his occasional poor behaviour breaking through, such as the ire of his sister Maggie concerning his refusal to help her son kick-start his own racing career financially.

Yet this perhaps serves to illustrate the conflict in his character as pertinently as anything else: as with most people, Barry Sheene was largely pleasant but not perfect.

The biography provides a fascinating insight into the old world of bike racing - that place of brown envelopes and dangerous circuits, typified by the Isle of Man TT - and shows ably how it has transformed into the sport as it is today.

Sheene knew modern-day hero Valentino Rossi well and raced against his father in years past. A comparison with the Italian towards the end of the narrative gives his career perspective: you suspect that the marauding figure of Barry Sheene - smoking a cigarette with a girl on his arm and a drink in his hand - would not be quite so successful today or enjoy such a positive image in the intrusive atmosphere of the media circus that surrounds it.

But it should not be forgotten that it was Sheene who shaped that world with his groundbreaking sponsorship deals, and who gave the sport a glamour that still clings today, despite the long absence of a British champion.

This book illustrates his character and is well worth a read for fans of motorsport or those intrigued by a fading icon of British sporting culture.

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