22|02|08: Al Spicer – The Rough Guide To Punk. Ok, so no prizes for originality in this book, there are probably hundreds of A-Z type books listing bands and giving brief biogs of them, but the writer here does it with a bit of personality and a quirkiness by making it less of a straight history and more of a personalised view of the bands (often not very flattering – see his description of The Police). The books also provides a nice timeline, and scores points by not sticking to the stereotype Ranomes/Pistols/Damned/Clash-centric narrow view that can often be the case (Nice to see people like Suicidal Tendencies, Sonic Youth and sub-genres like grindcore touched upon – plus top marks for including the legendary Happy Flowers – a personal favourite!). Probably not an essential read, but pretty enjoyable way to spend an afternoon nonetheless (and I never knew that Ross “The Boss” from the Dictators went on to be in Manowar!).