This title is the definitive account of "The Stone Roses", one of Britain's most influential bands and who defined a generation, by music journalist Simon Spence. Based on 400 hours of interviews with over seventy of The Stone Roses' closest associates, including six former band members, "War and Peace" is the first major biography of the band that defined a generation. Originally planned in collaboration with Reni, the reclusive drummer, this book had been a year in the making when the Roses, against all odds, announced their re-formation. It is a remarkable coda to an astonishing story. In 1989 their debut album and the single "Fools Gold" made them the most exciting British export since the Sex Pistols. With their incendiary aura the Roses became figureheads of the 'Madchester' movement. "For the casual listener, or die-hard fanatic, this is a genuine masterpiece. Difficult to put down, easy to follow and well written, it should be on any self-respecting Stone Roses fan's bookshelf". ("What Hi-Fi"). "Exhaustive, well-researched". ("Independent on Sunday"). "A comprehensive, no-holds-barred account of a ...shambolic, chaotic, mercurial and self-destructive ...band.
Spence details, with steely, forensic precision, the story of the group's ascent, heyday and spectacular implosion. All the triumphs and disasters are here". ("Sunday Times"). "This really is definitive. It is a kind of classic, a rare treat. Get it, get it, get it, just get it". (Nemone, BBC 6 Music). "Gorgeous facts abound ...full of revelations, both major and deliciously minor. This is not just "The Stone Roses'" story, but that of two decades of pop-cultural history, in which lingering punk furies were eventually snuffed out by corporate business as usual. A northern picaresque full of pathos and farce, and Spence's version is as good as definitive". (John Harris, "Word"). "Full of genius, self-sabotage and betrayal ...doesn't disappoint". ("Music Week"). Simon Spence collaborated with Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham on the acclaimed memoirs Stoned and 2Stoned. He has written for the "NME", "i-D", "Dazed & Confused" and the "Independent". He was at the Stone Roses' legendary Blackpool and Alexandra Palace shows in 1989 and covered their era-defining Spike Island show for "The Face".