As creative force of The Goon Show, Spike Milligan was the architect of the lunatic style of humour that permeates the best-loved performances of Peter Sellers; a friend and colleague who Milligan considered: “one of the true comedy greats of the 20th century. He can hold his head up with the very best.”

And it is the comic genius of Peter Sellers that is the driving passion of this book. A labour of love by Robert Ross, Britain’s Comedy Historian, in which the well-documented wealth, wives, and weirdness of Peter’s personal life is referenced only when it fully impacts his happiest place: as an interpretive, dedicated, truthful actor.

Whether it is Doctor Strangelove; Inspector Clouseau; or Chance the Gardener, Sellers had the conviction and the control to become his characters.

It’s a legacy of laughter which still holds the world bewitched and enthralled; a legacy here put into historical and comical context.