‘The Man who Tested Parachutes’ by Andrew Colley and John Neil

Hardback, Air World, £25

Charles Agate was a 34-year-old schoolteacher with a taste for adventure when he joined a pioneering group of mavericks at RAF Ringway in Manchester.

The breath-taking risks they took alongside the essential work of the women of the WAAF changed the course of the war and the face of airborne warfare.

Their work though often came at a terrible cost. Between 1941 and 1945 Agate and his fellow Parachute Jump Instructors (PJIs) completed thousands of jumps, often from low altitude or using prototype parachutes.

They jumped carrying heavy kit bags, had sandbags strapped to their legs, and landed in deep freezing water.

‘On the Grid’ by Luke Smith

Hardback, Simon & Schuster, £22

Journalist Luke Smith takes us behind the scenes of the past, present and future of Formula 1, telling its story through the eyes of the people who create it, including the all-important fans.

All the drama, cutting-edge technology, the stress and the glamour.

Smith takes us to the starting grid, to yacht parties in Monaco and to the pit lane for the critical mid-race decisions.

Find out how one screw could cause a £15m car to break down, how F1 has influenced not just the cars we drive but life-saving medical equipment and how you create a Grand Prix track from scratch.