Michael Morpurgo is a national treasure. With books such as Private Peaceful, Kensuke's Kingdom, and The Wreck of the Zanzibar, he has enchanted a whole generation of children, weaving stories for them in a way that is neither contrived nor condescending. His is a rare gift.

In 2007, Michael's novel War Horse was adapted for the stage by the National Theatre. Five years on, it continues to play to packed audiences of all ages, and has been turned into a blockbuster film by Steven Spielberg, propelling Morpurgo to household-name status.

Michael's own story is as strange and surprising as any he has written, and is shot through with the same thread of sadness found in almost all his work. How did this supremely un-bookish boy, who dreamed of becoming an army officer, become a best-selling author and children's laureate instead? What personal price has he paid for success? And why, amidst his triumphs, is he now haunted by regret?

In a unique collaboration, Maggie Fergusson explores Michael Morpurgo's life through seven biographical chapters, to which he responds with seven autobiographical stories of his own. The portrait that emerges is one of light and shade: the light very bright, the shade complex and often painful.