From humble beginnings, Kenneth Branagh drove himself to dizzy heights of accomplishment. With a West End hit at twenty-one, a lead with the RSC by twenty-three and his own theatre company by twenty-six, no actor of his generation achieved so much so rapidly. And yet no actor has received such relentless criticism. Based on extensive research and numerous interviews, Mark White traces the vicissitudes of Branagh's career, examining his meteoric rise and the accompanying backlash.