This is a kindly written book, a loving look back at the filming of a truly seminal film produced 50 years ago. The author is one of its stars and portrays the shooting quite head on. There is little analysis in this little tome. Yet, hearing about Lindsay Anderson's dictator-less way of directing and how the sequel to If.... could have been shaped, it's fairly interesting.

I really enjoyed reading this background on the filming of If.... and I made the conscious decision to read it before actually watching the film. Up until recently, this cult phenomenon had somehow evaded my radar. I have to say that now I have some added excitement for viewing it and it will no longer sit waiting in my queue. Actor (in the film) Wood, provides some really interesting insight into the production and the creatives involved.

The book is well written and and beautifully supported with still shots and sample script pages (including the infamous 'dummy script') peppered throughout the book. It is a gift that David Wood took the time to provide fans and film historians with this edition, marking the 50th anniversary of the film's release.

This book is David Wood’s memoir of how he came to be cast as one of the trio of rebels at the heart of Lindsay Anderson’s ‘If ….’; how the film was made and received; and an account of what subsequently happened to him and the others involved. Given that ‘If ….’ is a much loved cinematic work of the very first importance, there is clearly an audience for this book. Unfortunately, they will discover it has three shortcomings.

Firstly, there is its brevity. This is a very short book (just 100 pages) despite its containing a brief Foreword by Malcolm McDowell and a much more substantial appreciation of Lindsay Anderson, as a man and artist, in an Afterword by George Perry.

Secondly, whilst there are interesting insights into Anderson’s directorial style, the film’s use of both colour and black and white, and the playing out of particular scenes (notably the nude scene between McDowell as Mick Travis and Christine Noonan as The Girl), there is very little here that will be new to those who’ve watched the extras, which include an interview with Wood, which accompany the 2014 Eureka Masters of Cinema Blu-ray of ‘If….’.

Thirdly, the book contains some omissions and errors. An example of the former is when Wood refers to Charles Sturridge (who played Markland) as “a very successful television director”, thereby ignoring his career as a feature film director (with credits including ‘A Handful of Dust’, ‘Where Angels Fear to Tread’ and ‘Fairy Tale: A True Story’). An example of an error is when Wood writes that “Mick receives twice the number of strokes of the cane as the other two” when in fact Johnny and Wallace each receive four strokes, and Mick receives ten.

Such, however, is my goodwill towards all phenomena associated with ‘If ….’ that I do not wish to end on a negative note. Wood is as engaging a writer and individual as he is accomplished as an actor and playwright, and this book is certainly a pleasant enough way of idling away an hour but for the reasons listed above it is not really possible to award it five stars.