Think of Francis Ford Coppola and three iconic blockbusters from the 1970s come to mind: The Godfather Parts 1 and 2 and Apocalypse Now. Yet Coppola - still active today in his 80s - is actually a hugely versatile film-maker, whose credits include many successes as a screenwriter and a producer as well as his biggest successes - and biggest flops - as a director. Beginning as an acolyte of notorious exploitation movie director Roger Corman, Coppola moved up the ranks, becoming involved as screenwriter and producer in some of the most iconic films of his generation including American Graffiti and war film Patton. Early on in his career, he formed his own independent production company Zeotrope, still making movies today.

As well as taking an overview of Coppola's complete career, Stephen Lambe discusses 25 of Coppola's most important films. The three Godfather films are discussed in detail, of course, alongside some of his other major successes as a director, including The Conversation starring Gene Hackman and, of course, the notorious production difficulties of Vietnam epic Apocalypse Now, which - somehow - produced a magnificent film in the end. In the 80s Coppola changed tack, firstly directing his great folly - the musical One From The Heart - followed by two teen dramas The Outsiders and Rumble Fish which launched the careers of future stars like Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe.

All these movies - and many more - are discussed in this comprehensive and well-researched examination of this great director's work.