Chaplin

<p>David Robinson's definitive and monumental biography of Charlie Chaplin the greatest icon in the history of cinema who lived one of the most dramatic rags to riches stories ever told. <br><br>Chaplin's life was marked by extraordinary contrasts: the child of London slums who became a multimillionaire; the on-screen clown who was a driven perfectionist behind the camera; the adulated star who publicly fell from grace after personal and political scandal. This engrossing and definitive work written with full access to Chaplin's archives tells the whole story of a brilliant complex man.<br><br> David Robinson is a celebrated film critic and historian who wrote for <i style=mso-bidi-font-style: normal>The Times</i> and the <i style=mso-bidi-font-style:normal>Financial Times</i> for several decades. His many books include World Cinema Hollywood in the Twenties and Buster Keaton.<br><br> 'A marvellous book . . . unlikely ever to be surpassed' <i style=mso-bidi-font-style:normal>Spectator </i><br><br> 'I cannot imagine how anyone could write a better book on the great complex subject . . . movingly entertaining awesomely thorough and profoundly respectful' <i style=mso-bidi-font-style:normal>Sunday Telegraph</i><br><br> 'One of the great cinema books; a labour of love and a splendid achievement' <i style=mso-bidi-font-style: normal>Variety </i><br><br> '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' <i style=mso-bidi-font-style:normal>Financial Times</i></p>