For someone who shuns the limelight so completely that he conceals his name, never shows his face & gives interviews only by email, Banksy is remarkably famous. From his beginnings as a Bristol graffiti artist, his artwork is now sold at auction for six-figure sums & hangs on celebrities' walls. The appearance of a new Banksy is national news, his documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop was Oscar-nominated & people queue for hours to see his latest exhibition. Now more National Treasure than edgy outsider, who is Banksy & how did he become what he is today? In the first attempt to tell the full story of Banksy's life & career, Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together a picture of his world & unpicks its contradictions. Whether art or vandalism, anti-establishment or sell-out, Banksy & his work have become a cultural phenomenon & the question ' Who is Banksy?' is as much about his career as it is 'the man behind the wall'. ' Britain's unlikeliest national treasure' Independent 'A fascinating portrait that elicits admiration for a man who, despite his increasingly unconvincing efforts to retain some shred of his vandal status, has had an undeniable impact on art' The Times