Iron Maiden has been crushing the skulls of fans for over 40 years--that's a lot of music and a lot of history. Esteemed author Martin Popoff (who has written 41 books to date on everyone from Ted Nugent to Judas Priest) traces Maiden's chronology in a unique biography utilizing a litany of key moments in the band's life and using these events as jumping-off points. Popoff includes dozens and dozens of informative quotes from the band, and the book is littered with extraordinary photographs and graphics that follow the group from infancy to modern day. The chapters are broken up by decades, led off by "Ancient Days." Here is the first introductory paragraph examining the chapter on the 1980s.

The '80s would be a golden age for heavy metal on both sides of the Atlantic. For the first few years, an igniting of sorts would take place through the New Wave of British heavy metal. That spark would inflame incubators of rockers in San Francisco and LA, giving birth to the golden age of thrash at the former as well as massive commercial bounty for "hair" metal bands down-coast at the latter. And where does Maiden preside through this heady, heavy metal age? Well, first as a characteristic band from that magical UK phalanx and then as an iconoclast, like Motorhead, like AC/DC, as a band that would never bow to the trending pressures of the age, but keep on keeping on, crafting records using their hard-considered signature sound, and generally having a good time through the entire decade.

The photographs and artwork alone are worth the price of admission alone. There are shots of posters, album covers and tour programs, as well as a myriad of live and studio shots of the band.

This is a coffee table-sized book, and even if you don't drink caffeine, it should be in the metal connoisseur's living room. Iron Maiden continue to tour and remain at the forefront of all things metal. You need to read this book to know what they've been doing the past 40 years before they accrue another four decades' worth of history.