Don't Look Back in Anger: The Rise and Fall of Cool Britannia, Told By Those Who Where There - Hardcover

Rachel, Daniel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1409180719 ISBN 13: 9781409180715

Publisher: Trapeze, 2019

Synopsis

The nineties was the decade when British culture reclaimed its position at the artistic centre of the world. Not since the 'Swinging Sixties' had art, comedy, fashion, film, football, literature and music interwoven into a blooming of national self-confidence. It was the decade of Lad Culture and Girl Power; of Blur vs Oasis. When fashion runways shone with British talent, Young British Artists became household names, football was 'coming home' and British film went worldwide. From Old Labour's defeat in 1992 through to New Labour's historic landslide in 1997, Don't Look Back In Anger chronicles the Cool Britannia age when the country united through a resurgence of patriotism and a celebration of all things British.

But it was also an era of false promises and misplaced trust, when the weight of substance was based on the airlessness of branding, spin and the first stirrings of celebrity culture. A decade that started with hope then ended with the death of the 'people's princess' and 9/11 - an event that redefined a new world order.

Through sixty-eight voices that epitomise the decade - including Tony Blair, John Major, Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Tracey Emin, Keith Allen, Meera Syal, David Baddiel, Irvine Welsh and Steve Coogan - we re-live the epic highs and crashing lows of one of the most eventful periods in British history. Today, in an age where identity dominates the national agenda, Don't Look Back In Anger is a necessary and compelling historical document.

About this title

Review

A rollicking read....a tale of hedonism and opportunism, of great hope and dashed expectations. (MAIL ON SUNDAY)

A grade, A list oral history...through this shifting, twisting narrative, Rachel creates a potent record (THE SUNDAY TIMES)

Entertaining (OBSERVER)

Rachel proves himself, again, the Studs Terkel of British pop political movements, delivering a brilliantly polyphonic pop-cultural history of Britain in the 1990s. Provoking a heady stew of memories for those who lived through it, and acting as a primer for the era for those who missed out, Don't Look In Anger conveys something of the hope, energy, optimism and egalitarianism that seemed to abound then. Things we could perhaps do with rather more of right now. (Travis Elborough, author of The Atlas of Improbable Places)

A triumphant oral history (GUARDIAN, on WALLS COME TUMBLING DOWN)

This is without a doubt the finest book I've ever read about songwriters and the songs they write. (NOEL GALLAGHER, on ISLE OF NOISES)

Book Description

Tony Blair, Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Tracey Emin, Irvine Welsh and an abundance of other contributors unite in this ambitious oral narrative charting the epic highs and crashing lows of the UK's most creative and hedonistic period: the nineties.

Edition details

• Publisher: Trapeze
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1409180719
• ISBN 13: 9781409180715
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 495