A rollicking ride through the jazz-fuelled, scooter-riding years of the quintessential British culture -- and what it continues to mean for us today. Welcome to the world of the sharp-suited 'faces'. The Italianistas. The scooter-riding, all-night-dancing instigators of what became, from its myriad sources, a very British phenomenon. Mod began life as the quintessential working-class movement of a newly affluent nation -- a uniquely British amalgam of American music and European fashions that mixed modern jazz with modernist design in an attempt to escape the drab conformity, snobbery and prudery of life in 1950s Britain. But what started as a popular cult became a mainstream culture, and a style became a revolution. In Mod, Richard Weight tells the story of Britain's biggest and most influential youth cult. He charts the origins of Mod in the Soho jazz scene of the 1950s, set to the cool sounds of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. He explores Mod's heyday in Swinging London in the mid-60s -- to a new soundtrack courtesy of the Small Faces, the Who and the Kinks. He takes us to the Mod-Rocker riots at Margate and Brighton, and into the world of fashion and design dominated by Twiggy, Mary Quant and Terence Conran. But Mod did not end in the 1960s. Richard Weight not only brings us up to the cult's revival in the late 70s -- played out against its own soundtrack of Quadrophenia and the Jam -- but reveals Mod to be the DNA of British youth culture, leaving its mark on glam and Northern Soul, punk and Two Tone, Britpop and rave. This is the story of Britain's biggest and brassiest youth movement -- and of its legacy. Music, film, fashion, art, architecture and design -- nothing was untouched by the eclectic, frenetic, irresistible energy of Mod.

Mod: From Bebop to Britpop, Britain's Biggest Youth Movement

Politics & Social Sciences

Weight, Richard

Anthropology

Vintage Books

This comprehensive survey of the events, people and themes that make the British who they are explores the interwoven culture, society, politics and economics of the recent past. Two hundred concise essays cover topics as diverse as pornography and the poll tax, the Blitz and New Labour. The entries offer a consistent line of argument with a refreshing disrespect for old orthodoxies; at the same time, readers are given the essential facts on which to base their own opinions.

The A-Z Guide to Modern British History

Business & Money

Garnett, Mark

Economics

RANDOM HOUSE UK

Mod: A Very British Style

Welcome to the world of the sharp-suited Mods. The Italianistas. The moped-riding, all-night-dancing instigators of what became, from its myriad sources, a Very British Culture. But Mod was so much more than this. It wasn't just the suits. It wasn't just the consumerism or the hedonism. Mod was the DNA that formed the music, fashion, art and architecture of the latter half of the twentieth century. Mod became a symbol of post-imperial British culture. It began life as the quintessential working-class movement of affluent Britain -- the conspicuous consumption of clothes, records and drugs were an assertion of individuality and an expression of discontent with the snobbery and prudery of British life. It was a popular cult that transformed into a mainstream phenomenon; a style that became a revolution. Richard Weight tells the story of Britain's biggest and most influential youth cult, from its origins in the Soho jazz scene of the 1950s through to its explosion amid Beatlemania in the 1960s. Along the way he takes in the many influences that shaped it: from Be-Bop Jazz to RnB and Soul and Jamaican Ska, together with French and Italian fashion, Anglo-American Pop Art and continental Dadaism. And finally, Weight examines Mod's relationship hippie escapism, punk iconoclasm and eventually the politics of the far-right, as the cultural nationalism that Mod had spawned took on a more sinister form. As a result, Mods were condemned by moralists of the left and right alike. Several decades on from the original Mod generation, today's fashion and music industries still pay tribute to those early days. Mod's journey from moral panic to commercial manipulation, from violent reaction to nostalgic remodeling, testifies to its enduring legacy.

Arts & Photography

Graphic Design

Bodley Head

Who are the British today? For nearly three hundred years British national identity was a unifying force in times of glory and times of despair. This book explores the decline of Britishness and the rise of powerful new identities in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. A major work from a brilliant young historian that superbly synthesizes social, cultural, political and economic history, Patriots promises to set the agenda for discussions of national identity in Britain for years to come.

Patriots: National identity in Britain, 1940-2000

History

Europe

Macmillan

Modern British History is a comprehensive, thought-provoking survey of the events, people, and themes that make the British who they are, written by two of the country’s leading scholars. In 200 essays, covering topics as diverse as pornography and the poll tax, the Blitz and New Labour, the authors explore the interwoven culture, society, politics, and economics of the recent past. Bombarded by information as never before, we all need to appreciate the extent to which seemingly disparate events interconnect. This essential A–Z guide offers a consistent line of argument with a refreshing disrespect for old orthodoxies. Read separately, its entries are a mine of useful information; taken together, they form a vivid and compelling picture of Britain at the start of the 21st century.

Modern British History: The Essential A-Z Guide

Pimlico

A rollicking ride through the jazz-fuelled, scooter-riding years of the quintessential British culture -- and what it continues to mean for us today.      Mod began life as the quintessential working-class movement of a newly affluent nation -- a uniquely British amalgam of American music and European fashions that mixed modern jazz with modernist design in an attempt to escape the drab conformity, snobbery and prudery of life in 1950s Britain. But what started as a popular cult became a mainstream culture, and a style became a revolution.In Mod, Richard Weight tells the story of Britain's biggest and most influential youth cult. He charts the origins of Mod in the Soho jazz scene of the 1950s, set to the cool sounds of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. He explores Mod's heyday in Swinging London in the mid-60s -- to a new soundtrack courtesy of the Small Faces, the Who and the Kinks. He takes us to the Mod-Rocker riots at Margate and Brighton, and into the world of fashion and design dominated by Twiggy, Mary Quant and Terence Conran. But Mod did not end in the 1960s. Richard Weight not only brings us up to the cult's revival in the late 70s -- played out against its own soundtrack of Quadrophenia and the Jam -- but reveals Mod to be the DNA of British youth culture, leaving its mark on glam and Northern Soul, punk and Two Tone, Britpop and rave. This is the story of Britain's biggest and brassiest youth movement -- and of its legacy. Music, film, fashion, art, architecture and design -- nothing was untouched by the eclectic, frenetic, irresistible energy of Mod.

Sociology

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Weight, Richard. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Weight, Richard

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Weight, Richard. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Mod: From Bebop to Britpop, Britain's Biggest Youth Movement

The A-Z Guide to Modern British History

Mod: A Very British Style

Patriots: National identity in Britain, 1940-2000

Modern British History: The Essential A-Z Guide

Mod: A Very British Style