Ed Sheeran - Divide and Conquer

by David Nolan

From pub open mic gigs to headlining at Madison Square Garden and performing with the likes of Sir Elton John and Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran has conquered the world.

Self-described as a 'spotty, chubby, ginger teenager' with a love for Damien Rice and Nizlopi, Ed Sheeran was never an obvious bet to become a global superstar. And yet that's exactly what he's achieved, winning plenty of awards (and hearts) along the way. But how did a young musician go from selling CDs from his rucksack to becoming the millennial record-breaking international stadium act?

Tracing his story from his bohemian childhood in Yorkshire and Suffolk to the release of his third album Divide, music journalist David Nolan chronicles Sheeran's musical life and times. Featuring exclusive interviews with friends, relatives, musical collaborators and key figures in his rise to stardom, Divide and Conquer tells the story of how Ed Sheeran went from school drop-out to one of the world's most successful musicians.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music, Biography

260 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

David Nolan is a British award-winning journalist who's authored biographies on subjects ranging from Simon Cowell to the Sex Pistols. He's also written for newspapers, magazines, radio and television.

Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before going into this story, the review that I read on here (goodreads) some were positive and some were negative and that sort of threw me off. However, in the end I am super glad I stuck with finishing it because throughout it, even though its not written by Ed himself, I really enjoyed the book and it made me fall even more in love with him before. Not only that but as I was reading this book there was a ton of stuff in which, call me crazy, I didnt even know! and I am a Ed sheeran fan.

One of the reviews in which I read spoke about the writing and how there were parts in the story that didnt make sense. I completely understand where that person is coming from because I noticed at the begining of the book a part in which I found difficult to understand.
Don't get me wrong, the writing style was great and I liked it and all but it was just that one part at the begining, and the fact that when I first started it it was a very slow start.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. :)

[Kim Padgett-Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a Sheeran fan since I heard Lego House. A lot of biographies bombard you with the artists musical influences and little else but this isn't the case with this book. The first part of it deals with Ed's family in particular his parents who had a massive influence on him from an early age. The second section deals with his early musical career where at 16 years old he moved to London and sofa-surfed for a long time before he started to build a fan base with a vast amount of small gigs. It is refreshing in this day and age to find an artist who has done it the old-fashioned way through sheer hard slog. To some it may appear that his fame has come overnight but read this book and it is quite astounding the sheer level of commitment Ed has put in to make it to where he is today. The last section of the book deals with his rise to global fame and people in the music industry who he has collaborated with and at the end hints at his plans for the future. The best thing I liked about this book is the fact that it tells the real story behind his songs and what brought them to fruition. I can now listen to his last two albums and know what influenced the lyrics. Ed's songs do tend to be like a self-portrait of what is happening in his life at that time. I like David Nolan's style with this book and at the end you feel like he has given you an intimate glimpse of what makes Ed Sheerhan tick rather than just quoting copious amounts of data and facts which is often the case in musical biographies.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whizzed through it. Loved finding out things about Ed that I didn't know. Fascinating.

[Margolcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Krótka zwięzła opowieść biograficzno-dyskograficzna. W sierpniu idę na koncert, więc chciałam poznać chłopaka bliżej. Jeszcze bardziej go polubiłam.

[Sammy Ochoa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel so bad giving this book a bad review but it was one of my least favorite biographies. I have loved Ed Sheeran's music for years now so when I saw this book on Amazon I bought it without even reading the reviews (rooky mistake.) When I first opened it I admit, it wasn't bad but it wasn't great. I found things out about Sheeran I had no idea about but the further I got the less enthused I was. I felt the book was repetitive and I still wondered about things the author mentioned even after his research, It was almost like he didn't know much himself. He also jumped around a lot, he would say something and then say but we'll talk about that later and then never talk about it. The writing almost felt rushed, like he just wanted to put out another book and didn't really care about what it read like. I would not recommend this book to find out about Sheeran. You'll find better facts about him on the internet.

[Jessika Caruso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I breezed right through this book! What an in-depth yet fun read. Nolan really analyzes Sheeran's career and influences throughout his life, from as far back as when the superstar was a toddler. He left no stone unturned in researching this, talking to everyone from Sheeran's school music teacher, to his cousins, to the owner of a bar he played at. For an unauthorized biography, there was tons of insider information! Nolan cites reviews of each EP and album, and thoroughly covering Sheeran's entire music career up until the release of the singles "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill." Sheeran's career seems to be moving so fast that I hope another biography is released along with his next album. Highly recommend!

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for every Ed Sheeran fan!
It is very interesting to find out so much about one of the best singer-songwriters of the generation.
I am very into his music and I think he is a great, nice (always kind and optimistic) guy with great sence of humour. Confident.
Perfect example of how determination and very hard work can lead one to astonishing success and fulfilling one's dreams.
With this book you can trace Ed's career from the very beginning (childhood) till publication of the third album (divide).
To achieve sth you need to believe in it, believe in yourself, work hard and be happy with what you are doing the rest will come along.
<3

[thehiddenchapter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cudowna historia Eda Sheerana, pokazująca jago początki w karierze muzycznej, jego sukcesy, porażki. Ed nie ukrywa że droga na szczyt nie była łatwa, nie obyła się bez wypalenia zawodowego, fali hejtu czy okresu nie cierpliwości czy nowa piosenka czy klip znajdą swoich ulubieńców. Jeśli nie znacie jego historii to powinniście tą książkę przeczytać bo tak jak pisałam w tej książce jest opisane wszystko, nie to co w "Graficznej podróży" gdzie większość informacji jest okrojona. Jedynie co mi brakowało to zdjęć, było ich zdecydowanie za mało ale mimo ta biografia jest moją ulubioną i na pewno do niej wrócę nie raz, to przecież mój idol.

[MadRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a fan of Ed´s music he is clearly a very talented and down to Earth individual. This insight adds more colour to the impression we have of Ed through his songs and not only shows how driven he was, as all successful musicians must be, but also how incredibly planned out his rise to fame was. It also makes you want to dive back into his back catalogue and seek out those songs he wrote on that road to stardom.

[Meghan Whincop · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Non Fiction Book read of the year, written by someone about someone else. Whilst the information is factual and true, I found it hard to read. I guess this was because it didn't have a narrative to follow, only the information we were being given. However this was a good book and one I would reccomend to most, if they want to read some information about Ed Sheeran

[Arnaldo Neto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Descobri a força de vontade por trás desse ídolo! O cara foi morar nas ruas de LA no início década pra buscar o sucesso mundial (só era famoso na Inglaterra), acabou esbarrando com Jammie Foxx em uma boate que o convidou pra tocar em uma festa e o resto é história. Incrível!

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found myself mentally correcting the mistakes throughout the book, also certain lines were repeated again and again.. and again 🙄 other than that, a great read

[Kersi · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting book about a very nice person!

[Emmaleagh Fantom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abosolutely brilliant x

[Jay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trash book. Ending is sooo boring.

[Debbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was truly amazed at how young Ed was when he started writing and performing. A very goal driven person.

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a fan of biographies, but this one I just had to read!

[Natalie (lone-bookworm) Frowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Generally speaking I enjoyed the book. I'm a fan of Sheeran so to be able to read of his 'journey' was nice.
I'm not to sure about the author though. There were two things that bothered me and its put me off reading any of his work again. The mistakes in this book were amazing and he repeated things. And I mean the same exact sentences. In my opinion its just bad writing. All through the book I found it hard to concerntrate because I just didn't like the way it was written. If you wanna learn stuff about Sheeran this is probably the wrong book to do so.