SUNDAY TIMES FILM BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Uproariously readable ... Levy is a master of the group biography' Sunday Times

'Teeming with satisfying gossipy details' Guardian

'Exalts the intoxicating, beguiling dreaminess of Rome in its celluloid heyday' TLS

1950s Rome. From the ashes of war, the Eternal City is reborn as the epicentre of film, style and boldfaced libertinism. Movie stars including Ingrid Bergman, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor flock to Cinecittà studio and mix with blue bloods and bohemians at the bars on Via Veneto, while behind them trail street photographers in pursuit of the most unflattering and dramatic portraits of fame.

In a fast-paced, kaleidoscopic narrative, Shawn Levy recreates Rome's ascent with compelling tales of its glitterati and artists, down to every last outrageous detail of the city's magnificent transformation into 'Hollywood on the Tiber'.