Metallica have sold in excess of 100 million albums and won seven Grammys. Their journey from scuzzy Los Angeles garages to the stages of the world's biggest stadia has been an epic and often traumatic one, and one of the few truly great rock 'n' roll sagas. No music writers have been afforded greater access to Metallica over the years than Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood, two former editors of Kerrang. Having conducted hundreds of hours of interviews with the band, they have between them gained an unparalleled knowledge of the group's history and an insiders' view of how their story has developed: they have ridden in the band's limos, flown on their private jet, joined them in the studio, been invited to the quartet's 'HQ' outside San Francisco and shared beers and stories with them in venues across the globe. There are countless memorable stories about the band never before seen in print, tales of bed-hopping and drug-taking and car-crashes and fist-fights and back-stabbing that occur when you mix testosterone and adrenaline, alcohol and egomania, talent and raw ambition. Perceptive, emotionally attached, and intellectually rigorous, Birth, School, Metallica, Death will be the essential and definitive story of this extraordinary band. Volume I takes us from the band's inception through to the recording and eve of release of their seminal, self-titled, 1991 album.

The scrupulously researched story of the band's early days with deep detail gleaned from over two decades of first-hand exposure to the guys and new interviews with key supporting figures. -- Ben Mitchell Q Magazine It's hard to imagine the tale of San Francisco metal behemoths Metallica being told any more authoritatively than it is here. -- Stevie Chick Mojo Journalists Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood have worked closely with the band over the years, and it shows, both in the access they've gained, the anecdotes they witnessed first-hand and the warmth they afford their subjects. No stone is left unturned as the band's insane life is meticulously researched ... Volume 2 will pick up the baton next year to complete the picture. On this evidence, it'll be worth the wait. Classic Rock Big, and impressive, and, like its subject, irresistible. -- Robert Collins Sunday Times The Metallica story has been told many times before, but seldom as entertainingly or as smartly as this ... Ian Winwood and Paul Brannigan's vivid prose makes this well-worn saga seem somehow fresh and fascinating again. The second volume promises to be an absolute belter. Metal Hammer This objective study is a refreshing approach to the traditional music biography. Even the most knowledgeable fans will eagerly await the second volume. Publishers Weekly

Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood are two of the UK's foremost music writers. A former Kerrang! editor, Brannigan is the author of the Sunday Times Bestseller This Is A Call: The Life And Times Of Dave Grohl while Winwood has written forRolling Stone, the Guardian, Mojo, Kerrang!, NME and the BBC.