Born on a train in Stalinrsquo;s Russia , Rudolf Nureyev was balletrsquo;s first pop icon. No other dancer of our time has generated the same excitement ndash; both on and off stage. Nureyevrsquo;s achievements and conquests became legendary: he rose out of Tatar peasant poverty to become the Kirovrsquo;s thrilling maverick star; slept with his beloved mentorrsquo;s wife; defected to the West in l961; sparked Rudimania across the globe; gave his rabid sexuality full reign; established the most rhapsodic partnership in dance history with the middle-aged Margot Fonteyn; reinvented male technique; gatecrashed modern dance; moulded new stars; and staged Russiarsquo;s unknown ballet masterpieces in the West. Julie Kavanaghrsquo;s uncompromising and magnificent biography, ten years in the making, is a brilliant tribute to a superstar the world can never forget.