The spectacular, magical union of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz created I Love Lucy and Desilu Studios-two of the greatest show-business success stories of all time. Yet the overwhelming pressures of incredible wealth and fame led to the destruction of their star-crossed, tumultuous marriage-but never their love for each other.

Written with the exclusive participation of daughter Lucie Arnaz, Lucy's second husband, Gary Morton, longtime Lucy co-star Gale Gordon, family members, co-workers and close friends, Desilu is the first candid, inside account of a celebrated, complex, passionate, but ultimately tragic relationship-as well as a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at Desilu Studios, the Golden Age of Television's most powerful production empire.

Lavishly illustrated with dozens of previously unpublished photographs-many from the Arnaz family archives-Desilu is the compelling, often harrowing story behind Americas happiest television couple. In addition to I Love Lucy, Desilu launched such diverse hits as The Untouchables, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, and The Lucy Show. But the ravaging demands of phenomenal success triggered Desi's descent into womanizing and alcoholism, while perfectionist Lucille's single-minded, obsessive focus on her career cost her the greatest love of her life.

Here are the backstage battles on I Love Lucy, Desi's building-and precariously maintaining-a studio empire, his unsuccessful, repeated comeback attempts, Lucille's ill-fated Broadway debut in wildcat, and an increasingly embittered Ball struggling to keep the studio afloat after her divorce from Arnaz. Here also are startling accounts of the redhead's on-set tyranny and clashes with such stars as Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Jack Benny, Sammy Davis, Jr., Jayne Meadows, and longtime sidekick Vivan Vance, as well as such latter-day debacles as Mame and Life With Lucy.