"The Real Nureyev" is an intensely personal, under-the-skin depiction of ballet's greatest hero. Carolyn Soutar draws upon her own experiences as Nureyev's stage manager and - exclusively - those of Robert Tracy, Nureyev's lover and then companion during the last 14 years of his life; Bill Akers and Roger Myers, who first met and worked with Nureyev in 1962 in Australia; and Yoko Morishita, prima ballerina with the Matsuyama Ballet Company, Tokyo, who partnered Rudolf for most of the '80s. Sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, yet always deeply human, "The Real Nureyev" is the most revealing book ever to be published about the twentieth century's greatest ballet icon, as witnessed by those who knew and loved him. It creates a vivid and enduring picture of his life and work.