For someone who shuns the limelight by concealing his real name, never showing his face and never giving interviews except by email, Banksy is remarkably famous. Such is the commercial value of his work that people have hacked an entire wall off a building because it bears an example of his art. But who is this man; how did he become what he is now; what makes him tick? How far can we get to know and understand someone who goes to such lengths to keep his distance from us? Now, in the first full-length book about Banksy's life and career, Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together a picture of the world in which he operates.

Introduction -- 1. The art of infiltration -- 2. Once upon a time -- 3. Graffiti decoded -- 4. Finding his own style -- 5. All aboard for the Banksy tour -- 6. Anonymously happy -- 7. The artist and organiser -- 8. The outlaw returns home -- 9. Welcome to Team Banksy -- 10. The business of Banksy -- 11. Faking it -- 12. Psst ... Anyone want to buy a wall? -- 13. How pest control routed vermin -- 14. Bonjour Monsieur Brainwash -- 15. Art without a theory.