The elephant to Hollywood - Michael Caine

It's been a long journey for Maurice Micklewhite - born with rickets in London's poverty-stricken Elephant & Castle - to the bright lights of Hollywood.

With a glittering career spanning more than five decades and starring roles which have earned him two Oscars, a knighthood, and an iconic place in the Hollywood pantheon, the man now known to us as Michael Caine looks back over it all.

Funny, warm, honest, Caine brings us his insider's view of Hollywood (where there's neither holly nor woods). He recalls the films, the legendary stars, the off-screen moments with a gift for story-telling only equalled by David Niven.

Hollywood has been his home and his playground. But England is where his heart lies. And where he blames the French for the abundance of snails in his garden.

A plaque now celebrates him at the Elephant in London. His handprint is one of only 200 since 1927 to decorate the hallowed pavement outside that mecca of Hollywood stars, Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

A very British star, The Elephant to Hollywood is the remarkable full circle of Michael Caine's life.

Sir Michael Caine CBE has been Oscar-nominated six times, winning his first Academy Award for the 1986 film Hannah and Her Sisters and his second in 1999 for The Cider House Rules . He has starred in over one hundred films, becoming well-known for several critically acclaimed performances including his first major film role in Zulu in 1964, followed by films including The Ipcress Files , Get Carter , Alfie , The Italian Job , Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Educating Rita , and more recently The Dark Knight , Is Anybody There? and Harry Brown . He was appointed a CBE in 1992 and knighted in 2000 in recognition of his contribution to cinema. Married for more than 30 years, with two daughters and three grandchildren, he and his wife Shakira divide their time between England and the United States.

Michael Caine has so much to talk about he's just written his second autobiography in which, in glamorous detail, he writes about his time working and living in Hollywood. But for all his tantalising titbits about the movie game it's Michael's private life that is the most fascinating, his personal account of hardship and tragedy.

'Most compelling autobiography since David Niven's The Moon's A Balloon .

uproarious and unflinching

Brimming with his gift for genial anecdote

To read Caine is to be in the company of an amiable, sentimental man who has achieved great success - and happiness - without appearing to be in the least smug.

the peeks behind the silver screen make the book light up

A truly incredible life story.

Caine remains a down-to-earth soul who seems to know everyone who has ever been anyone in the movie business, he loves talking about Hollywood and the extraordinary twists of fate in his career, but has no airs or graces. He was knighted in 2000, but doesn't expect anyone to stand on ceremony for him. "Being knighted was the greatest honour I've ever received, but I don't make people call me Sir. It's for me alone. Everyone calls me Michael.... It's filled with anecdotes of his movie career, his big breaks in Zulu and Alfie, as Harry Palmer in The Iperess File and as the ageing professor in Educating Rita, his encounters with the rich and famous, from The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and Brigitte Bardot to Laurence Olivier, Sidney Poitier, Jude Law, Scarlett Johansson and other stars both at home and abroad.