Drawing on original and exhaustive research from interviews and never-before-seen material in the Picasso family archives, this book opens in Picasso's chateau in Normandy, Boisgeloup. Picasso was contributing to Andre Breton's Minotaur magazine and he was also spending more time with the likes of Man Ray, Salvador Dalí, Lee Miller, and the poet Paul Eluard. It was during this time that Picasso began writing surrealist poetry and became obsessed with the image of himself as the mythic Minotaur-head of a bull, body of a man-and created his most famous etching, Minotauromachie. Richardson's fascinating and accessible narrative immerses us in one of the most exciting moments in twentieth century cultural history, and brings to a close the definitive and critically acclaimed account of one of the world's most celebrated artists.