Gonzo journalist and literary roustabout Hunter S. Thompson flies with the angels—Hell’s Angels, that is—in this short work of nonfiction. “California, Labor Day weekend . . . early, with ocean fog still in the streets, outlaw motorcyclists wearing chains, shades and greasy Levis roll out from damp garages, all-night diners and cast-off one-night pads in Frisco, Hollywood, Berdoo and East Oakland, heading for the Monterey peninsula, north of Big Sur. . . The Menace is loose again.” Thus begins Hunter S. Thompson’s vivid account of his experiences with California’s most notorious motorcycle gang, the Hell’s Angels. In the mid-1960s, Thompson spent almost two years living with the controversial Angels, cycling up and down the coast, reveling in the anarchic spirit of their clan, and, as befits their name, raising hell. His book successfully captures a singular moment in American history, when the biker lifestyle was first defined, and when such countercultural movements were electrifying and horrifying America. Thompson, the creator of Gonzo journalism, writes with his usual bravado, energy, and brutal honesty, and with a nuanced and incisive eye; as The New Yorker pointed out, “For all its uninhibited and sardonic humor, Thompson’s book is a thoughtful piece of work.” As illuminating now as when originally published in 1967, Hell’s Angels is a gripping portrait, and the best account we have of the truth behind an American legend.

Not since Hunter Thompson's seminal Hells Angels: A Strange & Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs in 1967 has there been such a thorough account of the Angels. This book documents the gang's bumpy ride from its origins as a Stateside club for WWII fighter pilots to its freewheeling terror tactics of the early sixties, to its absurd flirtation with the hippie scene, to its current status as one of the most powerful underground organisations in North America, rivalling even the Mafia.

Presents a photographic exploration of the world of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. This book is individually numbered and signed by photographer Andrew Shaylor, and presented in a custom-made box containing a hand-finished print, also signed and numbered by the photographer.

The Outlaws Motorcycle Club's story is told here for the first time, by criminal underworld author and former infiltrator Alex Caine. They are the original biker gang, and their sixty years of war with the Hells Angels is the stuff of legend. Right down to their signature logo (a skull known as "Charlie"), the McCook Outlaws Motorcycle Club, formed in 1935, defined the look and sensibility of the twentieth-century biker. In the 1950s, a rising gang of toughs in California threatened to steal their thunder. But, recognizing an opportunity for expansion, the Outlaws reached out. The nascent Hells Angels sent them home to Chicago, beaten, humiliated and forever bent on the Angels' destruction. Sixty years and thousands of maimed and murdered later, the Hells Angels are a dominant criminal empire. The Outlaws, loosely allied with the number-two club in the biker universe, the Bandidos, sit contentedly as the number-three power, though they rule in places like the UK, the Great Lakes, Florida and the US Midwest. Less concerned with making money than the Angels, they continue to define the vicious biker character like few of their peers. Working undercover, Alex Caine witnessed the buffering of the big clubs' US turfs in a Bandidos-mediated truce between the Outlaws and Angels in the 1980s. But like every deal between bikers, that one soured, and a storm of unimaginable violence and scope is brewing. The alliance is expanding and determined to unseat the Angels for once and for all.

Narrated by the visionary founding member, Hell's Angel provides a fascinating all-access pass to the secret world of the notorious Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club. Sonny Barger recounts the birth of the original Oakland Hell's Angels and the four turbulent decades that followed. Hell's Angel also chronicles the way the HAMC revolutionized the look of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle and built what has become a worldwide bike-riding fraternity, a beacon for freedom-seekers the world over. Dozens of photos, including many from private collections and from noted photographers, provide visual documentation to this extraordinary tale. Never simply a story about motorcycles, colorful characters, and high-speed thrills, Hell's Angel is the ultimate outlaw's tale of loyalty and betrayal, subcultures and brotherhood, and the real price of freedom.

The definitive collection of first-hand accounts of the world's outlaw motorcycle gangs, with contributions by Sonny Barger, Hunter S. Thompson, Ed Winterhalder, William Queen and many more Outlaw bikers consider themselves 'the last free people in society', unconstrained by the regulations that hem in ordinary citizens. And they guard their privacy jealously. Drawing on seventeen years of studying and participating in biker culture, the author has compiled this one-of-a-kind collection of original biker writing. Here are insider accounts of landmark incidents in biker folklore, including reprints of classic writing from biker-originated magazines, handouts, websites and books. Gangs featured include the Bandidos, the Hells Angels, Henchmen MC, the Outlaws, the Mongols, the Annihilators, the Diablos, the Gypsy Jokers, the Rebels, the Straight Satans and the Vagos. And with contributors such as Freewheelin' Frank (one-time secretary of the Hells Angels), Edward Winterhalder (among the most powerful members of the Bandidos) and Sonny Barger (founder of the Hells Angels). Also included are those rare accounts by outsiders who have succeeded in 'looking in' on the gangs: Hunter S. Thompson's Hells Angels: A Strange and Terrible Modern Saga; writing by William Queen, the undercover agent who infiltrated America's violent outlaw motorcycle gang the Mongols; and Daniel R. Wolf's account of riding with the Rebels.

I hadn't planned on writing a book when I quit the Hells Angels. After forty years in the Hells Angels, George Christie was ready to retire. As president of the high-profile Ventura charter of the club, he had been the yin to Sonny Barger’s yang. Barger was the reckless figurehead and de facto world leader of the Hells Angels. Christie was the negotiator, the spokesman, the thinker, the guy who smoothed things out. He was the one who carried the Olympic torch and counted movie stars, artists, rock musicians, and police chief captains among his friends. But leaving the Hells Angels isn’t easy, and within two weeks of retirement, he was told he was “out bad”—blackballed by his fellow Angels, prohibited from wearing the club patch, and even told he should remove his Death Head tattoo. Now Christie sets out to tell his story. Exile on Front Street is the tale of how a former Marine gave up a comfortable job with the Department of Defense and swore allegiance to the Hells Angels. In this revealing, hard-hitting memoir, he recounts his life as an outlaw biker with the world’s most infamous motorcycle club.