Just published: Pink Floyd Shine On: The Definitive Oral History - another fascinating and essential book from acclaimed author Mark Blake. Blake is best known in the Floyd community for his excellent book, Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd (known as Comfortably Numb in the US) which originally came out in 2007, and subsequently updated. Other books worth searching out by Blake include titles covering Queen and Freddie Mercury, Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin's manager) and The Who.

Described as "the definitive oral history of Pink Floyd as told by friends, associates, family members and the band themselves through exclusive, never before published interviews" it really lives up to that promise. Calling on his own extensive archives of recorded interviews that he has undertaken over many years with the band members and key related friends, family or personnel, and bringing in new interviews with Nick Mason, Guy Pratt and David Gilmour, the book brings the band's long and fascinating story - from the very beginnings of childhood, through to present day - to vivid life. With Blake finishing the book this summer, it even covers events including the Pink Floyd In Pompeii IMAX premiere, the sale of the Floyd's catalogue to Sony Music, and David Gilmour's Luck and Strange project.

With almost all the text in the book being the people themselves explaining and expanding the story, there's little in linking text from Blake apart from the odd line or two in explanation or setup.

This format works incredibly well and it was a book - which runs to well over 400 pages of text - that was hard to put down. There is so much to discover in this book, with things like passages from previously unseen Syd Barrett letters, Rosemary Breen (Syd's sister) talking at length about her brother, background to every Pink Floyd project, detail about the Live 8 reunion which I've not heard before, and so much more. There were even some comments made by Roger Waters about A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, which came as a surprise! The level of detail was a joy, without ever coming across dry or dull.

Just when you think you've read it all, and have seen all that can be said about Pink Floyd's story, Mark Blake comes along with another of his books, which quickly reveals itself to be an absolute essential for any Floyd fan, or indeed anyone who knows nothing about them and wants a well-written, pacy look at their story. It details their rich history in an always enlightening and entertaining fashion.

ORDERING INFO:
As we participate in their affiliate programme, ordering any item after entering Amazon through our links helps with BD's ongoing running costs, and we really appreciate it. You can order the book - either as a hardback, or in Kindle format - from Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

You can also order it from HMV.com which still has a limited number of copies signed by the author, and has free delivery (to the UK).

However, if you reside in the UK, and fancy winning one of the two signed copies we have, courtesy of New Modern, the publishers, you might want to give this competition a try!

Simply email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by next Saturday, October 18th, telling us why you would like a copy of Mark Blake's book. Please include your address with your entry and remember: UK only please. Good luck!