Eag es began as a backing group for vocalist Linda Ronstadt before striking out on their own. All being accomplished vocalists, musicians and songwriters, they jointly set themselves the goal of 'number one singles and albums, great music, and a lot of money'. With guitarist Glenn Frey and drummer Don Henley as the combined driving force, by 1975 they had topped the singles and album charts at home and found major success in Britain and across the world, while establishing themselves as America's foremost band.

   The global success ofTheir Greatest Hits 1971-1975 andHotel California, to this day the first and third best-selling albums in America of all time, proved impossible to surpass, and after several line-up changes, they disbanded in 1980. A resumption in 1994 was cemented with the live/studio albumHell Freezes Over, followed in 2007 byLong Road out of Eden, their first studio album for 28 years. After Frey's death in 2016, they recruited new members maintaining a live schedule that continues to this day.

   This book recounts the band's rise, fall and rise again, with a detailed look at every track on each studio and live album, plus an overview of original songs and cover versions recorded but never officially released.

John Van der Kiste has published over ninety books, mostly historical biography and music, including1970: A Year in Rock, and titles on Mott the Hoople and Ian Hunter, Free and Bad Company, and Manfred Mann's Earth Band in the 1970s for Sonicbond's Decades series. He has reviewed books and records for the local and national press and fanzines co-founded and edited the 70s fanzineKeep on Rockin, and written booklet notes for CD reissues from EMI and other labels. A former DJ and performer with various groups, he also co-wrote one track on Riff Regan'sMilestones (2015), and played harmonica on London'sThe Hell for Leather Mob (2020). He lives in Devon, U.K.