1939: Guido, an Italian Jew, comes to a Tuscan town in search of his fortune. He meets and is smitten by schoolteacher Dora, a gentile; but she is already engaged, to a local Fascisto. Nevertheless, Dora is wooed and won by Guido’s clownish charm. But the shadow of bigotry threatens to fall across their happiness.

The General is the story of Martin Cahill – a working-class Dubliner who was the mastermind behind a series of daring robberies that stunned Ireland in the 1980s. Despite being the country’s most wanted man, he eluded capture – with great cheek – until he finally fell foul of the IRA. John Boorman’s screenplay delves deep into the heart of Cahill and reveals a man who possessed a relish for defying the might of society, a rage at perceived injustice, a ferocius cunning, a sense of perpetual celebration, and a dark brutality – all the characteristics of a Celtic chieftain.

Douglas Sirk is one of the most neglected directors in American cinema. This book aims to rectify that and, through a survey of his career, to re-establish Sirk as one of the great stylists of Hollywood cinema.

When George III’s behaviour begins to seem odd, even for Royalty, the collapse of government is imminent. The King is subjected to the horrors of eighteenth-century medicine, the Ministers scrabble to remain in office and the Prince of Wales prepares to take power.

God and the Devil: The Life and Work of Ingmar Bergman

Peter Cowie’s book chronicles the life and the 60-year film and stage career of Bergman as he wrestles of themes of love, sex and betrayal with the figure of Death hovering overhead.

Blending biographical information with critical comment, Cowie presents a man whose life and work were intimately fused.

The Collected Screenplays of Paul Schrader, including such masterpieces of American cinema as Taxi Driver, American Gigolo and Light Sleeper.

Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood

Hollywood: The Oral History covers the history of Hollywood from the Silent era up to the 21st century.

John Boorman is one of the cinema’s authentic visionaries, drawn to myths and dreams. The undisputed heir to David Lean, his films, such as Point Blank, Deliverance and Excalibur, exhibit a continual search for the truth that only art can convey.

In Conclusions Boorman summarises what he has learned about the craft of film-making, and wishes to pass on to the next generation of film-makers. Into this tapestry of cinematic memories, he also weaves the story of his kith and kin, including the death of his cherished elder daughter, and an evocation of the forest of trees that he has planted as his final legacy.