Richard Weight

Abigail Beach

Citizenship and National Identity in Britain, 1930-1960

The Right to Belong

Welcome to the world of the sharp-suited âe~facesâe(tm). 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 âe" 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 Britainâe(tm)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 Modâe(tm)s heyday in Swinging London in the mid-60s âe" to a new soundtrack courtesy of the Small Faces, the Who and the Kinks. He takes us to the Modâe"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 cultâe(tm)s revival in the late 70s âe" played out against its own soundtrack of Quadrophenia and the Jam âe" 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 Britainâe(tm)s biggest and brassiest youth movement âe" and of its legacy. Music, film, fashion, art, architecture and design âe" nothing was untouched by the eclectic, frenetic, irresistible energy of Mod.

A Very British Style

Mod!

Who are the British today? For nearly three hundred years British national identity was a unifying force in times of glory and despair. It has now virtually disappeared. In Patriots, Richard Weight explores the decline of Britishness and the rise of powerful new identities in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Based on a wealth of original research, it is scholarly in depth and scope, yet never departs from a thoroughly readable and entertaining style. 'Here are the themes of Orwell's The Lion and the Unicorn stretched over the subsequent sixty years and widened to embrace the whole United Kingdom. Brimming with zest and feel this is politico-cultural history at its best.' Peter Hennessy'Wide-ranging, intelligent, sensible and important.' Max Hastings, Sunday Telegraph 'A marvellously rich, ambitious and at times iconoclastic study by a young historian of how, in the broadest sense, national identity in Britain has changed in the last 60 or so years' David Kynaston, Financial Times 'A major work: the fruit of long research, wide reading and hard thinking, engagingly written, bubbling with fresh ideas' Stephen Howe, Independent

Patriots

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.

From Bebop to Britpop, Britain's Biggest Youth Movement

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.

Richard Weight

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