The Wire: Truth Be Told

Edinburgh: Canongate, 2009 9781847675989. Hardback. Revised First UK edition of book originally published in USA. First printing. Number 1. VG/VG. DW is NOT price-clipped and intact but worn at the edges. One nick repaired. No annotations or inscriptions. 582 pages. An essential companion book to the 5 TV series THE WIRE has been widely hailed as the greatest television series of all time. It portrays the war of attrition between the city's hardened police force, and its drug dealers, and the blurring of good and evil, justice and injustice, right and wrong. Over its five series it has built up a detailed, rich and layered portrait of Baltimore: from its corner boys touting dope and its dock workers facing extinction, through the strained education system and tainted halls of power, to the crumbling media establishment. Rafael Alvarez - a reporter, essayist and staff writer for the show - brings the reader inside this world, detailing many of the real-life incidents and personalities that have inspired the show's storylines and characters. Packed with photographs and featuring an introduction by series creator and executive producer David Simon, as well as essays by acclaimed authors George Pelecanos, Nick Hornby, Laura Lipmann, and William F. Zorzi, it covers all five series in glorious detail. The Wire' is told from the point of view of both the police and their targets. The first season focused primarily on the investigation of the Barkdale drug dealing crew, while the second season examined the issues confronting the Baltimore waterfront and its unions, along with the continuation of the Barksdale storyline. The book examines the themes and story lines of the first two seasons, as well as looking ahead to the show's direction for the third and future seasons, interspersing the stories of the real life people upon whom the show's characters are based. .