Punk placed in its cultural context, exploding out of a grey UK landscape. Excellent anecdotes, highly perceptive.

I began the book because I wanted to write about what I'd experienced during 1976, 1977 and 1978.

Seeing the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned, Buzzcocks, and all the other groups that followed, I loved the loud, distorted guitars and the total pissed-off ness. It resonated with what I felt at the time, and the fact that a few people had the guts to say it out loud gave me the impetus to write in public and launch myself into the world. I wanted to recognise this debt and to tell a story that I hadn't read anywhere else. I went off and interviewed about a hundred people, including the four original Sex Pistols.

I was lucky in that punk was still comparatively fresh in people's minds and almost everyone was generous with their time. Since its first publication, the book has taken on a life of its own. I'm pleased because it's a great, emotional narrative and it accurately reflects what I thought and felt: that music was not just entertainment but a way of seeing the world.
Jon Savage

· See also: 'The Boy Looked at Johnny' (Faber): Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons in full rant mode about punk