The White Stripes - guitarist Jack White and drummer Meg White - have managed to combine high album sales with high praise from the critics, moving quickly from cult to commercial success, generating media mania, and ensuring their status as global superstars.In The White Stripes: Twenty First Century Blues, Dick Porter reveals the truth behind a myth in the making, tracing the band's trajectory from the burgeoning Detroit underground rock scene to stadiums and festivals worldwide. He explores the rock and blues roots of their sound, setting it in historical context and showing how it has shaped their development into one of the most distinctive forces on the contemporary scene. Focusing on the people behind the music, he also provides an account of Jack and Meg's childhoods, offers insights into their personalities, and examines their relationship, which has been the source of so much interest and gossip. The book also includes over 40 black and white photos.