Fueled by vodka on ice, the occasional hit of Ecstasy, acid, opium, and innumerable cigarettes, and following an unwavering artistic vision, filmmaker and artist Derek Jarman, who died of AIDS-related causes in 1994, led an outrageous and controversial life. In Derek Jarman: A Biography, Tony Peake delves for the origins of the energetic imagination that led to distinctive films like Sebastiane, Jubilee, The Tempest, Caravaggio, Wittgenstein, and Blue.

Peake's book is a vivid social and cultural history-an edgy account of a bohemian existence and of a scene of friends that included artists David Hockney, Robert Mapplethorpe, and many other members of the creative Avant-garde. A chronicle of sexual fear and repression and inimitable courage and grace in the face of a protracted death, Derek Jarman: A Biography is an honest and brilliant tribute to the uncompromising life and art of Derek Jarman.