Neil Daniels may know more than anybody in the world about Iron Maiden. Back in 2012, he wrote the excellent book Iron Maiden: The Ultimate Unauthorized History of the Beast. This time around, the chronicler focuses his research on the first four albums from this English heavy metal band: Iron Maiden, Killers, The Number of the Beast and Piece of Mind. This early quartet of releases reflects a period during which multiple lineup changes occurred, including the addition of drummer Nicko McBrain following the release of the third album listed above.

In an attempt to shed as much light as possible on every aspect of the band's early years, Daniels tried to interview all the early members of the band, but many of them have simply slipped into obscurity. He did manage to track down Dennis Stratton and Tony Moore and variously relies on previously published interviews.

There is no one writing today with more knowledge and insight about Iron Maiden, a band that continues to tour and record to this day. The information here was painstakingly gathered, then all that research was parsed and evaluated by Daniels in creating this virtual touchstone of all things Maiden.