"Viewing the artist through the lens of his music and many guises, Doggett offers a detailed analysis -- musical, lyrical, conceptual, social -- of every song Bowie wrote and recorded during [the 70s], as well as a brilliant exploration of the development of a performer who profoundly affected popular music and the idea of stardom itself."-- Page 4 of cover.

“Astonishing and absorbing…from glam rock, minimalism and punk, to radical left-wing politics, music video, and a mass of other subjects that helped shape the ideas behind Bowie’s songs.” —Sunday Times (London). The Man Who Sold the World by Peter Doggett—author of the critically acclaimed Beatles biography, You Never Give Me Your Money—is a song-by-song chronicle of the evolution of David Bowie. Focusing on the work and the life of one of the most groundbreaking figures in music and popular culture during the turbulent seventies, Bowie’s most productive and innovative period, The Man Who Sold the World is the book that serious rock music lovers have been waiting for. By exploring Bowie’s individual achievements and breakthroughs one-by-one, Doggett paints a fascinating portrait of the performer who paved the way for a host of fearless contemporary artists, from Radiohead to Lady Gaga.