The hugely acclaimed biography of one of history's greatest directors, Jean-Luc Godard

'MacCabe's book is in a league of its own ... this is a rich, rewarding and essential read for anyone seriously interested in the intellectual, cultural and cinematic history of Europe since World War II' Sight and Sound

'Godard fans, practitioners of cinema and anyone interested in the intellectual and artistic life of the second half of the twentieth century should read this important and entertaining book' Observer

Jean-Luc Godard's early films revolutionised the language of cinema for everyone, from the Superbrats of Hollywood to the political cinema of the Third World. Yet in l968 he abandoned one of the most brilliant careers in French cinema to pursue his investigations into sound and image on the periphery of the industry he had rejected.

Following a protected childhood in Switzerland in the Second World War, the post-war years saw Godard as a troubled adolescent in Paris, where the prescribed courses of the Sorbonne were ignored in favour of the extraordinary teaching of André Bazin, the greatest of film critics.

In the pages of Cahiers du Cinema, Godard - together with Truffaut, Rohmer, Rivette and Chabrol - hammered out an aesthetic that would take the world by storm as the young critics swapped pens for cameras at the end of the 1950s to create the cinema of the nouvelle vague.

Hugely prolific in his first 10 years - A Bout de Souffle, Le Petit Soldat, Le Mepris, Pierrot Le Fou, Alphaville, Made in USA and many others all appeared in the 1960s - Godard became and remains one of the most adventurous and enigmatic film-directors at work in the world today.

Colin MacCabe teaches at the Universities of Pittsburgh and Exeter, and works as a producer for Minerva Pictures. His most recent book is The Eloquence of the Vulgar. His most recent production is Badassss... Cinema. He worked with Godard in the '70s and '80s.