"When the world collapsed, each of us broke in our own way. Hard to say who got crazier—me, or everyone else." — Max Rockatansky When, in 1979, an unknown Australian director made his first feature film, “Mad Max,” no one suspected it would become the beginning of the greatest dieselpunk franchise. George Miller, a son of immigrant parents and trained as a doctor, became famous overnight. His first “Mad Max,” with a budget of $300,000, made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the film with the highest production-to-profit ratio (over $100 million). That dizzying record couldn’t be beaten for almost 20 years! But back then, few knew what it cost Miller. He raised money for filming literally through friends and relatives—some actors and crew members agreed to work just for a mug of beer—and Miller and his partner Byron Kennedy mixed the sound right in the living room. This book is not just a chronicle of the film, but a story about two heroes—the brilliant Miller and his mad Max. A true revelation in the best traditions of the universe of the main cinematic post-apocalypse.