'God felt sorry for the actors, so he gave them a place in the sun and a swimming-pool; all they had to sacrifice was their talent' - Sir Cedric Hardwicke, 1935.But who exactly were those British actors, what drew them to California from their London theatrical homes and what happened to them? Though there have been many histories of Hollywood and its professional inhabitants, this is the first specifically to consider the extraordinary feat of colonization achieved there by the British from the coming of sound through fifty years to the final destruction of the old studios by television. It was India all over again, merely a century from Ronald Colman and Bob Hope to Greer Garson and Julie Andrews, the British arrived as an invading army of expert settlers (after all, they could speak the English language at a time when many silent film stars were still having trouble mastering American) and they rapidly formed cricket clubs and polo teams before arranging afternoon teas to which they would only occasionally invite the natives - their American employers.This then is the story of the California British across half a the ones who stayed and became stars, the ones who could never go back because they were too old, too rich or sometimes just too afraid - the wartime British press campaign known as 'Gone With The Wind Up' aimed at those actors and directors who had not returned to Britain in 1939 left scars which were apparent a decade later.