With this remarkable compilation of photographs, artworks and quotations, Lisa Vreeland has created a vivid and multi-layered portrait of Cecil Beaton (1904–1980), drawing together the many strands of his personality and his art. The book is arranged in nine chapters, each one devoted to a facet of Beaton’s life or career: his special friendships, scrapbooks, the designs for dance, fashion photography, his work in New York and in Hollywood, and his portraits of artists, literary stars and fellow photographers.