When people think of punk they often think of outrageous fashion and iconic bands like The Ramones and the Sex Pistols. But the reality of punk stretches over three decades and numerous countries, with a history as rich and varied as it is shocking and daring. With this lavishly illustrated and authoritative A-Z guide, now in a new format, Brian Cogan leads readers through the fiery history of a furious, rebellious, contradictory, and boundary-redefining musical genre and cultural movement that remains as massively influential as it is wildly misunderstood. As The Encyclopedia of Punk clearly proves, punk music and culture has produced a rich trove of material, above and beyond the hundreds of bands, from books and films to incendiary political movements.

Brian Cogan is a writer and professor who has written extensively on music and popular culture as well as music criticism. He received his PhD in media ecology in 2002 from New York University. He teaches at Molloy College and has taught at New York University and the College of Staten Island. Cogan has been a member of the punk scene for over 20 years and has written for a variety of zines as well as journals, newspapers, and magazines, and has performed and recorded with his band In Crowd since 1987.

“Cogan has basically compiled the end-all, be-all list of punk bands you should know about…Basically it's the punk fan's holy bible.” -The Staten Island Advance