Kids in the Riot: High and Low with The Libertines

Book excerpt: When Pete Doherty was imprisoned for burgling his best friend and bandmate Carl Barat in August 2003 it seemed the light had gone out on Britain's most exciting new band. Released early and reconciled with Barat, The Libertines confounded the critics by rounding off 2003 with three triumphant sold-out shows at London's Forum, and kicking off 2004 with the prestigious Best UK Band gong at the NME Awards. By the time their eponymous second album entered the charts at No. 1, Doherty was once more exiled from the band - kicked out by Barat for his continued drug use - his side-project Babyshambles going from strength to strength, leaving The Libertines facing an uncertain future just as they are feted as THE saviours of British rock. Now for the first time the full, extraordinary story of the most gifted yet nihilistic London band since The Sex Pistols is told in 'Kids in the Riot: High and Low with the Libertines'. With the complete co-operation of the major players in their gloriously destructive ascent and drawing on his own archive of unseen photographs, Pete Welsh documents the break-ins, break-ups, punch-ups and make-ups in the phenomenal rise of The Libertines....