At the beginning of March, like a bolt from the blue, we were hit with the news that Iron Maiden were releasing a new book to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary. We can’t say that we didn’t expect it in some form, mostly as an update to their previous biographical books. However, what Iron Maiden announced and why this book became ‘Book of the month’ even before it was released is this news:
Thames & Hudson are delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams – The Official Visual History, to be published globally in hardback in autumn 2025. A magnificent visual celebration of the first 50 years of Iron Maiden, this new book chronicles the evolution of heavy metal’s most prestigious band, with unparalleled input from band members and management. A truly spectacular and beautiful book, featuring never-before-seen items and photographs, which have been curated with enormous attention to detail over a number of years, it celebrates one of Britain’s most influential and biggest-selling bands, who have become arguably the biggest metal band in the world. Organized chronologically, Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams tells the story of the band from their first pub gigs in 1975 and their first record deal in 1979, through the recording and reception of groundbreaking albums, including their self-titled debut, 1982’s global breakthrough The Number of the Beast and the stadium-conquering Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, to 2021’s hugely acclaimed double-album Senjutsu and the forthcoming Run For Your Lives World Tour. The book traces the evolution of their iconic Eddie mascot, alongside exclusive comments from his creator Derek Riggs, and documents the band’s spectacular and complex stage productions and extensive live tours, including the Somewhere Back in Time World Tour of 2008, which made international headlines as Bruce Dickinson piloted the band’s very own Ed Force One 757. Presenting iconic album and single artworks, photographs of the band’s instruments past and present, stage props, hand-written lyrics and artefacts from the archive and the band’s personal collections, as well as landmark photographs by Ross Halfin, John McMurtrie and more, Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams is rife with revelatory stories and intriguing insights from pivotal band members and management. It is bookended by a foreword from band founder Steve Harris and an afterword by vocalist Bruce Dickinson.
What did we manage to notice in this short preview? The input into this book was provided directly by the band members and management, and what makes fans most happy is that the heroes from the beginning of this story are finally again here with the band. Derek Riggs provides his comments in this book and Ross Halfin provides his photographs, and this is exactly what warms the hearts of numerous fans who still hope for a more concrete collaboration between these two greats of their profession and the band. In addition, this book does not try to condense its biography and events into words in a few hundred pages, which would be very pretentious and probably impossible, but does something completely opposite. It opens its old chests for us and finally brings to light the artifacts that Steve Harris, Rod Smallwood and many other participants in the great story called Iron Maiden keep in their rooms, hallways, offices, etc. This book is, therefore, like the discovery of a long-sought treasure and expectations are already high. We believe that we can rightly call it the ‘book of the month’ already and that this title will also contribute to its huge circulation.
The book is available to pre-order here, with many more international links to be added.
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