The author set out to find the truth behind the endless legends, misconceptions and errors surrounding Charlie’s life – both public and private – by drawing on available record and through personal interviews. Charlie was born and raised in London’s Victorian slums and turned the straightforward craft of slapstick into an art that the world can never forget. ‘The Little Tramp’ was not the man the world saw  on the screen – he was an enormously complex man. But he gave the world laughter, and so – he gave the world everything.