Derek Jarman - Tony Peake

Taken decade by decade, Derek Jarman's life is a virtual encapsulation of the social and cultural history of the latter half of the twentieth century, from post-war austerity through the liberated sixties and the perplexing seventies to the eighties of Aids and Thatcherism.

Jarman has grown in stature enormously over the past decade. Always influential in artistic and film-making terms, and within the gay community, he had attained before his death a figurehead status that is now very generally recognised, and can only increase with time. His extraordinary garden in Dungeness in Kent has become a major tourist attraction and his films still compel massive critical attention. Tony Peake was Derek Jarman's literary agent, and knew him well. His authorised biography is based on first-hand interviews and primary research and does immense justice to a brilliant - and singular - subject.