Peter O'Toole was supremely talented, a unique leading man and one of the most charismatic and unpredictable actors of his generation. Described by Richard Burton as 'the most original actor to come out of Britain since the war', O'Toole regularly seemed to veer towards self-destruction.

With the help of exclusive interviews with colleagues and close friends, Robert Sellers paints the first complete picture of this much loved man and reveals what drove him to extremes, why he drank to excess and hated authority. But it also describes a man who was fiercely intelligent, with a great sense of humour and huge energy.