U2 by U2: (E) - Tapa dura

'An engrossing coffee-table autobiography.' Time Out

'There are no shortage of books about U2 and many of them aren't worth the paper they're written on. This is different because the cod psychology is abandoned and the boys simply tell their story – and tell it well.' Irish Independent.

'This book is a brilliantly realised concept, dense in its factual content with many rare photos.' Mail on Sunday (Ireland)

‘It’s a shame every band can’t make a book like this.’ Record Collector

‘This book is more like an experience with U2 and is an essential piece of memorabilia for any fan of the band. It’s so alive it almost has a pulse and you genuinely feel that U2 have put their heart and soul into this as much as they would a new album.’ The Irish Post

‘Curious onlookers will find much to admire here and, to U2’s credit, it’s a book none of their fans will want to be without.’ Classic Rock

‘The photographs complement the candid prose style perfectly. For any fan of U2 this collection is an ideal gift.’ Sunday Business Post

“I always thought the job was to be as great as you could be.” – Bono.

This is the story of U2, in their own words and pictures. It is the only authorised, fully comprehensive guide to the biggest band in the world.

Told with wit, insight and astonishing candour by the band themselves and manager Paul McGuinness, with pictures from their own archives, ‘U2 By U2’ allows unprecedented access into the inner life of the greatest rock band of our times. Bad haircuts, worse hangovers, prayer meetings and wild parties, encounters with presidents and popes, intimate accounts of the creation of all their classic songs, it is all here in a beautifully-presented book overseen by the band with the same passion for substance, style and immaculate attention to details familiar from their musical career.

“We wore it as a stubborn badge of pride that we weren’t prepared to fall into line with every other group and take the fashionable stance of the day. We were uncool because we were hot, we just erupted as a live band.” – The Edge

In 1975, four teenagers from Mount Temple School in Dublin gathered in a crowded kitchen to discuss forming a band. The drum kit just about fit into the room, the lead guitarist was playing a homemade guitar, the bassist could barely play at all and nobody wanted to be the singer. Over thirty years later, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jnr are still together, bound by intense loyalty, passionate idealism and a relentless belief in the power of rock and roll to change the world.

"We are trying to pin down something elusive, something that represents where we are, emotionally, physically, spiritually, but is also fresh and exciting. If it is not absolutely the best it can be, then why bother?" – Adam Clayton

"I have read a lot of rubbish about U2. Whenever I see us described in some mythic sense as masters of our own destiny, it makes me laugh. Being in U2 is more like riding a runaway train. We are just ordinary guys, hanging on to this thing for our lives." – Larry Mullen Jnr