Slash : Surviving Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver and Rock's Snake Pit

A human cartoon of hair, super-strength cigarettes and the rock world's most famous top hat, Slash is one of the most iconic guitarists in recent memory. Although born in Stoke-on-Trent, this one-off guitarist came to prominence through the debauchery and stellar chart success of the American west coast's Guns N' Roses; Slash's highly productive but volatile relationship with lead singer Axl Rose led to a perhaps inevitable split in the mid-90s. Moving on first to his own Snakepit project, then a blues band, then on to a career as one of the world's most sought after soloists, Slash's profile has finally returned to its highest peak with the formation of the outrageous and hugely successful Velvet Revolver, a super-group of rock stars that lives life as hard as his former band-mates ever did. His story is inevitably one of massive rock and roll excess, exhausting and famous live shows, fiery confrontations with other musicians but also of incredible discipline, a unique natural musical gift and, of course - through "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City" to name but a few - the creation of some of rock music's most legendary songs.

Mick Middles is the veteran author of fourteen books including Torn Apart, The Life of Ian Curtis (co-authored with Lindsay Reade), The Fall (with Mark E Smith), the official history of Factory Records and Breaking Into Heaven, on The Stone Roses as well as books on a diverse range of artists including Shaun Ryder, George Michael, Les Dawson, Ian McCulloch and cricket legend Viv Richards.