When a bunch of young Dublin hopefuls played their first gig as Feedback way back in 1976, no one could have dreamed that they would go on to write their own chapter in the story of rock 'n' roll. But where did they come from, what shaped them, and how did they survive where other bands fell away. North Side Story offers a vivid blow-by-blow account of the rise of U2, from their earliest schooldays right up to the release of Under A Blood Red Sky in 1983. Drawing on the Hot Press archives and complemented by new recollections from key participants, the book presents an insider's account of where Adam, Bono, Edge and Larry came from and how a unique musical identity was forged. This large-format documentary volume presents a chronological reconstruction of U2's formative years through archival journalism, historical interviews, contemporary reports, visual documentation and retrospective testimony. It traces the progression from Feedback and The Hype to U2, examines the North Dublin social and cultural environment, early performances, independent releases, management development, the Island Records breakthrough, touring expansion, and artistic evolution through Boy, October, War and Under A Blood Red Sky. The volume includes thirty-six thematic sections, rare photographs, diaries, letters, profiles, translated early European interviews and the fold-out map "North And South Of The River", making the work simultaneously a music-historical sourcebook, visual archive and oral history compilation.