This book seeks to discover the real Richard Booth, who is seen in a remarkable number of guises by friend and foe. Most striking is how opinions of Booth contradict one another. Former girlfriends call the thrice-married Booth a deeply sensitive, thwarted romantic, while former colleagues howl with laughter at the suggestion, calling him a promiscuous, sex-mad monster. Was he an out-of-control boozer or an outgoing and generous charmer? Was he ultra-competitive in the company of others, or a generous-spirited patron of the arts who wanted above all to encourage the talents of others?

The chronicle of how Hay became famous has never been written. Recent books on the place have been guide books, rather than portraits of Hay's idiosyncrasies. Nor has anyone catalogued the day-to-day folly of the early Booth years, a true Alice in Wonderland adventure of excess and financial incontinence. Booth's autobiography, largely penned for him by his step-daughter, is a readable but highly partial version of events.