Creating Wonder, By Danny Boyle, with Amy Raphael

Film by film, from Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire to Trance, this jumbo package of conversations gives the ace director ample room to explain his outlook, his ideals, his technique.

Yet, inevitably, the book's heart now lies in the 50 revealing, ideas-rich pages on the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, and the knife-edge dilemmas prior to his triumph. (He almost quit because of the missiles on local flats.)

For all its longueurs, this mammoth Q&A reveals the near-mystical vision behind the Lancastrian wonder boy's singular gift.