London calling : a countercultural history of London since 1945

London has long been a magnet for aspiring artists and writers, musicians and fashion designers seeking inspiration and success. In London Calling, Barry Miles explores the counter-culture - creative, avant garde, permissive, anarchic - that sprang up in this great city in the decades following the Second World War. Here are the heady post-war days when suddenly everything seemed possible, the jazz bars and clubs of the fifties, the teddy boys and the Angry Young Men, Francis Bacon and the legendary Colony Club, the 1960s and the Summer of Love, the rise of punk and the early days of the YBAs. The vitality and excitement of this time and years of change - and the sheer creative energy in the throbbing heart of London - leap off the pages of this evocative and original book. This is a major and definitive history of the counterculture by our pre-eminent chronicler of the cultural underground. London has long been a magnet for aspiring artists and writers, musicians and fashion designers seeking inspiration and success in this great city. In "London Calling", Barry Miles explores the counter culture that sprang up in the decades following the Second World War, focusing on the West End and Soho, where the presence of so many artists has established a unique atmosphere; creative, avant garde, permissive, anarchic - the throbbing heart of London. Here are the heady days of post-war Soho when suddenly everything seemed possible, the jazzbars and clubs of the fifties, the teddy boys and the Angry Young Men, Francis Bacon and the legendary Colony Club, the 1960s and the Summer of Love, the rise of punk and the early days of the YBAs. The vitality and excitement of these days and years of change - and the sheer creativity of London - leap off the page of this marvellously evocative and riveting book. A Major And Definitive History Of The Counterculture By Our Pre-eminent Chronicler Of The Cultural Underground. A Very British Bohemia -- The Long Forties : Soho -- Sohoitis -- The Stage And The Sets -- This Is Tomorrow -- Bookshops And Galleries -- Angry Young Men -- Pop Goes The Easel -- The Big Beat -- The Club Scene -- The Beat Connection -- The Albert Hall Reading -- Indica Books And Gallery -- Up From The Underground -- Spontaneous Underground -- International Times -- Ufo -- The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream -- The Arts Lab -- The Summer Of Love -- Dialectics -- Performance -- The Seventies : The Sixties Continued -- The Trial Of Oz -- Other New Worlds -- Fashion, Fashion, Fashion -- Coum Transmissions -- Punk -- Jubilee -- New Romantics And Neo-naturists -- Leigh Bowery And Minty. Barry Miles. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 436-453) And Index. London has long been a magnet for aspiring artists and writers, musicians and fashion designers seeking inspiration and success in this great city. This title explores the counter culture that sprang up in the decades following the Second World War, focusing on the West End and Soho.