As the millenium ends, David Bowie is about to enter his fifth decade of making music. Thirty years on from his first hit single, 'Space oddity', he remains the most influential rock star from the post Woodstock generation - yet unlike Hendrix, the Beatles or even Prince, his life has never been the subject of a major biography.

Strange Fascination chronicles Bowie's career against the colorful backdrop of post-Beatles pop culture; of glam-era gender-bending, implausible substance abuse and sartorial silliness; eighties corporate schlock; nineteens 'curator culture' and laddish Britpop. For the first time, a mass of evidence has been assembled about Bowie's art, his studio craft, his concert performances and his cultural impact. It's a story of amazing creativity, of huge, showboating theatrically, and of an almost pathological quest to remain relevant and at pop's cutting edge.

Strange Fascination reflects the obsessional and devotional nature of Bowie fans (some of whom have been interviewed for this book), but is primarily an absorbing and fascinating biography of Bowie and his times through exclusive and revelatory interviews with his closest collaborators, who have spoken in detail (many with Bowie's own blessing) about the tours, the making of the albums, the arguments and the split-ups, the music, and most importantly, the man himself. With an unrivalled degree of access to the main players and exclusive photographic material, Strange Fascination is the most complete picture of David bowie and his impact on pop culture ever written.