This is a comprehensive biography of perhaps the most iconic film director of all time, covering all aspects of Hitchcock's extraordinary life from his birth as a greengrocer's son in Leytonstone, Essex, to his death as a Hollywood legend in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.
Patrick McGilligan offers up a radical new understanding of an incredibly famous, widely analysed, yet often misunderstood man, and challenges many of the preconceptions held about the pioneering director.
In a career that spanned six decades and sixty films, Alfred Hitchcock was the dominant figure in the first century of cinema. Both visionary artist and consummate entertainer, his films set new standards for cinematic invention and storytelling style and brought him wealth, acclaim and an unparalleled reputation as a dark genius.
