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Deciding which annual to buy depends entirely on your scope of interest. Are you looking for a book to relive the past season's glories only or perhaps wanting to collect books from past years too? Are you a hard-core fan or more casual follower of the sport?
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The easiest case is if you are interested in of full history of the series and intend to amass a collection of annuals, in this case there is no substitude for Martin Holmes' World Rallying -series. First one was published in 1978 and series has run continuously since. Not only that but it is the only annual that has covered the era that preceded it, 1973 to 1977. Unfortunately, it is not an easy task to get hold of the older editions and copies in good condition fetch a nice price.
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If ancient history in form of Ford Escorts and Fiat 131s is not your cup of tea but instead supercars like Audi quattro strike your fancy, I recommend Rallycourse annuals instead. Started in 1982, this more slick and professionally laid out annual doesn't cover the series in such detail but still manages to include stories not found even on Holmes' World Rallying books.
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If you do not care about old times or do not want a collection in the first place, you have additional alternatives. Constraints of space allow me to pick only one (please bear in mind what is said in the sidebar) and that one is Rally Yearbook. Initially a french publication it has now been adopted as an official WRC yearbook.
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Of course, for complete coverage you will need more than one annual since for example World Rallying doesn't carry itineraries whereas Rallycourse doesn't list results beyond top-10 nor does it include some other details like name of entrant. My recommendation is World Rallying, not only because it is work of lifetime for Martin Holmes but also because it is the most complete of the alternatives. Admittedly, a second source is a benefit and if you can, collect Rallycourse as well as World Rallying.
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Other annuals
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There are other annuals besides those mentioned here, both in english and in other languages. These include Willy Weyen's Rally World (in dutch) and new annual by Worldrallynews.com, amongst others.
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