You may know some of the names of the artists mentioned here - Incredible String Band, Pearls Before Swine, and Devendra Banhart to name a few - but unless you are a hardcore fan of the evolution of acid and psychedelic folk, you probably won't know a lot of these names. That's precisely why you should pick this up and read it.

This fascinating journey begins with the origins of English folk in the mid-'50s through music released in the last couple of years. The book traces the careers of everyone from Shirley Elizabeth Collins, Davey Graham and Anne Briggs to Comus, The Holy Modal Rounders, Tim Buckley, Donovan and Caedmon.

Here, in an excerpt from his foreword, musician Greg Weeks defines the music:

"My focus may seem dour, but accepting that folk and psychedelic music, once driving cultural forces, have now been relegated to the periphery is perhaps the best way to illuminate the significance of a tome dedicated to understanding the deep connections between the form's first and second wave artists. As technology continues to blur cultural boundaries, it is interesting to see an evocation of a musical movement that plucked inspiration from a largely forgotten form, built itself up through a true community of friends and artists, and was largely happy to remain under the shadow of obscurity from whence it originated. Perhaps obscurity is for the best."