David Robinson is a celebrated film critic and historian who wrote for The Times and the Financial Times for several decades. His many books include World Cinema, Hollywood in the Twenties and Buster Keaton.
A marvellous book . . . unlikely ever to be surpassed * Spectator * I cannot imagine how anyone could write a better book on the great complex subject . . . movingly entertaining, awesomely thorough and profoundly respectful * Sunday Telegraph * One of the great cinema books; a labour of love and a splendid achievement * Variety * One of those addictive biographies in which you start by looking in the index for items that interest you . . . and as dawn breaks you're reading the book from cover to cover * Financial Times *