In these intimate diaries, Hall chronicles the eight frenzied years between 1972 and 1980 when he conducted the historic move of the National Theatre from the Old Vic to the South Bank, and then triumphantly consolidated its position as the leading showcase for theatre in Britain.

With remarkable candour Hall describes his relationship with Lord Olivier; with actors Paul Scofield, Ralph Richardson, Alec Guinness, John Gielgud, Albert Finney and Peggy Ashcroft; with playwrights Harold Pinter, John Osborne, Samuel Beckett, David Hare, Peter Shaffer and Howard Brenton; and with directors John Schlesinger, John Dexter, Bill Bryden, Christopher Morahan and Jonathan Miller. In his startlingly frank, incisive style, he creates sometimes affectionate, sometimes acid portraits of his friends and enemies, of great actors in rehearsal.

In his foreword, Hall casts a critical eye over the state of British theatre today and, through a discussion of politics and the arts in the eighties and nineties, contemplates its future.

Sir Peter Hall is one of the greatest theatre, film and opere directors of our time. At the age of 29 he founded the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1973 he became Director of the National Theatre and opened the new theatres on the South Bank. He later founded the Peter Hall Company, producing many West End and Broadway successes. He has directed at many international opera houses, including Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan opera and Bayreuth. To date he has directed over two hundred productions, including the world premiere in English of Samuel Beckett's Waiting or Godot, and the premieres of most of Harold Pinter's plays.