Born into a working‑class family in London’s East End in 1938, David Bailey became the best‑known photographer of his generation and has led a life that most people can only dream of. Drawing on numerous interviews, some previously unpublished, and illustrated with many iconic photographs as well as previously unpublished images from Bailey’s private archive, this book explores the man behind the camera. His outspoken and irreverent observations on life, death, women, style, fashion, sex, class, the movies, the 1960s, photography and Hitler are as thought‑provoking as they are revealing. The book also contains the reflections of some of the illustrious figures Bailey has worked with, among them Angelica Huston, Paul Smith, Jerry Hall, Catherine Deneuve, Mary Quant, Kenneth Williams, Jean Shrimpton, Penelope Tree, Damien Hirst and Diana Vreeland, as well as fellow photographers Cecil Beaton, Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy. In their interviews and writings over the years, these figures have provided some fascinating insights into the experience of being the focus of Bailey’s lens.