Ciceros Brutus de Claris Oratoribus (1849)

Fueled by vodka on ice, the occasional bit of Ecstasy, acid, and 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.

Jarman’s story stretches from his childhood in the bleakness of post-war Britain to his art school days at the Slade and work as a designer for Frederick Ashton, John Gielgud, and Ken Russell. In recounting Jarman’s life, biographer Tony Peake tells of Jarman’s energetic home movie-making with dazzling friends and a hand-held camera and how it led to distinctive films like Sebastiane, Jubilee, The Tempest, Caravaggio, Wittgenstein, and Blue.

Peake’s book is also a vivid social and cultural history – an edgy account of a bohemian existence in the warehouse studios that lined the Thames and of a scene and of friends that included artists David Hockney and Robert Mapplethorpe and actors Tilda Swinton and Julian Sands. 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.