The Images themselves are unforgettable: from the terrifying opening graveyard sequence in Great Expectations to the poignant railway farewell of Brief Encounter, from the shimmering desert in Lawrence of Arabia to the frozen expanses of revolutionary Russia in Dr Zhivago, David Lean has created some of cinema's most enduring moments.

Film-maker and historian Kevin Brownlow spent many hours with Lean and had access to numerous previously unpublished documents and … mehrphotographs. He charts the journey of Lean's life from his Quaker background to his early days at the Gaumont Studios, where he initially worked as a runner-cum-teaboy, then as assistant cameraman and editor, before turning to directing. It was a career that lasted over fifty years, a career characterised by careful planning, meticulous attention to detail, the fraught rewriting of scripts and inevitable financial problems.

From concept to realization, the movie-making process is examined through the eyes of the writers, actors, producers, cameramen and crew who worked with Lean - all providing a unique insight into the making of some of the century's most admired and successful films.

But Kevin Brownlow has written more than just a film history. David Lean's family and friends - from the son from whom he was estranged to the women who loved him - talk frankly about his complex personality: a man who was charming, self-deprecating, autocratic and ruthless, and yet surprisingly generous.

Kevin Brownlow has fashioned the definitive biography of David Lean, one that leaves the reader with an understanding of the man and an appreciation of his cinematic achievement.

Jacket photo: David Lean shooting the storm scene for Ryan's Daughter with a 70mm camera equipped with plexiglass windscreen rotating at high speed. Photograph courtesy of Photofest. weniger