For fifteen years Tony Hancock was the best-loved comedian in Britain, "a massive caricature of mid-century man." On stage, film, and TV he created some of the finest comedy of his generation. But in the summer of 1968 he took his own life. Philip Oakes - his friend and collaborator - seeks to explain Hancock's greatness and why the good times turned bad. Other books in the series incklude Penelope Gilliatt on Jacques Tati and John Fisher on George Formby.