Passion is a Fashion by Pat Gilbert

Pat Gilbert’s definitive biography of the Clash – universally acclaimed as a great book – has already sold over 50,000 copies in paperback. Now, for the 50th anniversary of the band forming in summer 1976, it is reissued in a fully revised and updated edition with a stunning new cover. For the original book Pat Gilbert – a former MOJO editor with the highest credentials – drew on exclusive interviews with over 70 key participants, including all the band members themselves, to give the first real insight into what went on behind the scenes during the Clash’s tempestuous ten-year career. For this new edition, he has added around 10,000 words of new material from subsequent encounters with the surviving Clash members, plus interviews with several more significant insiders, to create the ultimate account of the band’s story. In the golden jubilee of punk, the updated Passion Is A Fashion will attract a new sale as the only truly indispensable Clash book.

The definitive and expanded biography of The Clash – fully revised for the band’s 50th anniversary, with new material and a striking new cover.

About the Author: Pat Gilbert is a former editor of MOJO, the bestselling and internationally acclaimed music magazine. He has also contributed to Q magazine, the Guardian, The Times and the Sunday Times, and produced radio programmes for the BBC. He has written two books for Aurum: the definitive biography of the Clash, Passion is a Fashion – hailed by Uncut magazine as ‘a great book’ – and Shut It! The Inside Story of The Sweeney.

14 May 2026
 

Passion is a Fashion: The Real Story of the Clash – revised and updated by Pat Gilbert ISBN 9781805704133