'Sam Wasson's brilliant book is about the founding of the film industry as well as the story of how America discovered itself through the movies. But at its core, it is the seminal - and the best - book about Frank Capra I've ever read' Steven Spielberg

It was the sight of the Statue of Liberty that caused the 6-year-old Sicilian immigrant boy to change his name from Franco to Frank Capra and become one of the great chroniclers of America - how Americans love, govern, dream, and fight for their individuality.

Capra went on to create a body of work that extends from boisterous comedies (It Happened One Night) through social films such as Mr Smith Goes to Washington and Mr Deeds Goes to Town, and culminated in his masterpiece, It's a Wonderful Life.

For James Stewart, "the best Frank Capra story is the story of his own life. It's got more highs and lows than a rollercoaster." His films are as complex and rich as his life - characterized by a deep humanity, which, Wasson argues, elevates him above all other Hollywood film-makers. And it is this humanity that ensures they still speak to us today.

This extraordinary book, making full use of Capra's own archives for the first time - including deeply personal writings from his later years - brings this seminal artist into urgent life for the first time. At the same time, in its epic richness, it offers a dazzling portrait, both of a lost America and an enduring one.