For the first time, Tommy Cooper's biographer, writer and producer, John Fisher, collects between two covers the cream of the comedian's personal archives, with photographs, memorabilia and documents that have never been seen before.

Had Cooper kept a scrapbook, this is what he would have produced. Souvenirs from his many stage and television triumphs jostle side by side with candid shots of him at play with his family, many revealing a side to the man the public never really saw. Here is the authentic side of Tommy in the forces, the early show business struggle, the backstage world of his magic, the newspaper coverage of the most recognisable man in Britain, the crazy japes at home with wife Gwen, and so much more.

This book, with its brilliant colour images and hilarious text, puts the successive stages of Tommy's life in full context. And if you don't want to follow his life in biographical detail, just sit back and relax by laughing at the many jokes that crowd the pages. They tell their own story!