Lazarus: The Second Coming of David Bowie

by Alexander Larman

An Independent Book of the Month

“A superb biography” William Boyd

“(A) bold and enlightening exploration of Bowie's later career. Sensitive, witty and often very affecting” The Times

“A genuine must buy, as rich in critical appraisal as it is in personal history *****”  Classic Pop

“An engrossing, entertaining and informative read”  Classic Rock

A major new biography of David Bowie on the 10th anniversary of his death, exploring the second half of his career from commercial failures to critical rebirth in the 21st century.

When David Bowie died on 10 January 2016, aged 69, his death was greeted with the greatest display of public mourning since Princess Diana three decades before.

Twenty-five years before, Bowie appeared to be washed up. His Eighties career had been a slow descent into self-parody, his attempts to diversify into hard rock with the had been disastrous, and the art-rock music with which he had made his name was badly out of fashion. The Thin White Duke needed a miracle if he was not only going to be able to assume his rightful place at the top of the rock music firmament, but even to continue his career. And a miracle – a resurrection from the dead – is precisely what happened.

The Second Coming of David Bowie is the first biography of Bowie that tells the full and candid story of what happened in between those two apparently unbridgeable points. With new and exclusive interviews with the musicians, filmmakers and cultural figures who worked with and befriended Bowie throughout this period, Lazarus is the definitive account of the previously overlooked and fascinating latter half of a great and distinguished career. A career that climaxed with his final masterpiece, Blackstar, and the unprecedented theatrical flourish of his departure from the stage as he passed into legend.

Genres: Biography, Music, Nonfiction

384 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2026

About the author

Alexander Larman is an author, historian and journalist. After reading English at Oxford, from where he graduated with a First, he ghost-wrote and edited various memoirs and biographies, including the late artist and flâneur Sebastian Horsley’s Dandy In The Underworld. His involvement with the book led Horsley to say ‘there is no man in London more capable of genius – or a flop – than Alexander Larman’.

He began his own writing career with Blazing Star (Head of Zeus, 2014), a biography of the 17th century poet and libertine Lord Rochester, and followed this with Restoration (Head of Zeus, 2016) a social history of the year 1666, and Byron’s Women (Head of Zeus, 2016), an ‘anti-biography’ of the poet Lord Byron and the significant women in his life. His next book, The Crown in Crisis (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2020) was a revisionist history of the abdication saga. It was selected by the Times, Daily Mail and Daily Express as one of their best books of the year and led to significant international media coverage of the new revelations about the event.

As a journalist, Larman regularly contributes to titles including The Observer, The Critic, the Daily Telegraph, The Spectator and The Chap, for which he serves as literary editor. He lives in Oxford with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

[Kristin Vogel-Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall decently researched with a few minor errors that only a native New Yorker would cringe at (his home wasn't in Tribeca, nor SoHo).

I also felt the author positioned his opinion and critique of some of Bowie's later albums too front and center. We get it, we know you dislike Earthling.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because this book is purely about Bowies life and work from the 90s onwards I found it a very welcome change from the usual tired biographies that tend to just focus on the so called golden years. It's now up there with my favourite Bowie books and beaten only by Strange Facination, Bowie in Berlin and When Ziggy played guitar. A great read and much enjoyed by me.

[Taff Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one, which I read on the back of the BBC Lazarus documentary which I watched the previous week. The author is a bit younger than me, and I think that one’s relationship with Bowie and his music is much influenced by how and when you first encountered him and his music. For me it was the horizon changing moment that Starman with the blue guitar played on Lift Off With Ayesha on ITV in 1972. I was 11. I was bought into the spell at that moment and like Larman sought for enduring affirmations or repetitions of the thrill and chill of such iconic moments through the eighties, nineties and noughties and it felt as though those moments were few and far between….. until Next Day / Blackstar. Lazarus has really made me revisit the albums of those times and with Larman’s guidance, to listen with new ears. A really valuable friend of a read.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book starts from the irrefutable and entirely reasonable premise that David Bowie was the absolute GOAT, that we are fabulously fortunate to have lived at the same as him, and that we can better ourselves by learning more about his art and his life as he entered middle age and eventually left us to drift alone without his presence. If any of that sounds untrue or unappealing in any way, then this book is not for you, but if agree then it's worth reading.

It is a serious work, with lots of scholarly research and an unsensational tone. It pays homage to its hero, but does not fawn over him, or paper over his faults, missteps, errors, or other human lapses. It attempts to put the artist's work in the context of a larger career, one spanning decades with over 2 dozen albums, appearances in a bunch of films, and various other side projects and endeavours.

Anyone expecting "shocking revelations" or salacious details will be disappointed. The author is respectful of Bowie's desire for privacy as his health failed, and does not provide any sordid details. Similarly there is almost no speculation about his family life that were deemed to be off-limits. But thanks to extensive investigation into publicly available information and interviews with people involved with Bowie at various stages of his career, we still get some keen insight into the thought processes that motivated Bowie in his later years.

So while neither a trashy tell-all nor a gushing fan tribute, the book stands as a thoughtful tribute to a great man, often quirky and enigmatic, frustrated and frustrating, a person who struggled with the competing efforts of constant reinvention and continuity, stardom and normalcy.

[Claus Willumsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Langt de fleste bøger dvæler ved 1970’ernes Bowie, som bestemt også er meget interessant, men det er styrken ved Lazarus, at den begrænser sig til det føromtalte tidsrum. For vi kender jo ”alle” Bowie fra ”storhedstiden” i 1970’erne, som tonsvis af bøger beskæftiger sig med."

Læs hele anmeldelsen:
https://clauswillumsen.dk/arsskriptvm...

[Sam T Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good look at a period of Bowie’s music and life often ignored. The 90s were a baffling time for a Bowie fan but they’re done justice by Larman and the large and high profile interviewees they gained access to.