How Star Wars Conquered the Universe

Why do most people know what an Ewok is, even if they haven''t seen Return of the Jedi? How have Star Wars action figures come to outnumber human beings? How did ''Jedi'' become an officially recognised religion? When did the films'' merchandising revenue manage to rival the GDP of a small country?

Tracing the birth, death and rebirth of the epic universe built by George Lucas and hundreds of writ...