Limitless

Tim Peake Century £20  HB

Astronaut biographies aren’t always quite the thrilling tale you hope for: after all, their job is to faithfully follow a long rule book with military precision. Tim Peake’s autobiography is a rare example of one that lives up to expectations, packed with bizarre, thrilling, stomach-churning anecdotes about his life.

Peake takes us from his early experiences with homemade explosives through his days as a flair bartender, to the army and test pilot training, right up to touching down from space and being whisked away on a world tour. In between, he gives tips on how to crash-land in a helicopter, how to behave under interrogation, and how to best confront

Jeremy Paxman. I often found myself holding my breath – some tales are definitely not for the squeamish, and it will certainly dissuade readers of any notion that astronauts lead a glamorous life.

In places the anecdotes feel a bit stretched out; this 500-page book could be half its length. Peake also writes of the army with glowing praise, sometimes to the point where it reads like recruitment material rather than a balanced account. When he comes to his brief time on the ISS, it is somewhat underwhelming. One almost feels cheated that everything went so straightforwardly, with no terrible calamity, nor any need for the survival skills he honed in Sardinian caves.

But while the section on the Space Station may not be what we might expect, the book gives an incredible insight into the mind of an adrenaline junkie, test pilot, father and astronaut which many more than just spaceflight enthusiasts will enjoy.