The Patrick Hamilton Appreciation Society discussion

Next up for me is this new book....




Teddy Boys: Post-War Britain and the First Youth Revolution

by

Max Décharné


I read the first few pages last night and am confident it will be a complete winner



Enormously enjoyable' Sunday Times

'Genial and entertaining' Daily Telegraph

'A joyous celebration of the founding fathers of British youth culture' Alwyn Turner, author of All in it Together and Little Englanders

With their draped suits, suede creepers and immaculately greased hair, the Teddy Boys defined a new era for a generation of teenagers raised on a diet of drab clothes, Blitz playgrounds and tinned dinners. From the Edwardian origins of their fashion to the tabloid fears of delinquency, drunkenness and disorder, the story of the Teds throws a fascinating light on a British society that was still reeling from the Second World War. In the 1950s, working-class teenagers found a way of asserting themselves in how they dressed, spoke and socialised on the street. When people saw Teds, they stepped aside.Musician and author Max Décharné traces the rise of the Teds and the shockwave they sent through post-war Britain, from the rise of rock 'n' roll to the Notting Hill race riots. Full of fascinating insight, deftly sketching the milieu of Elvis Presley and Derek Bentley, Billy Fury and Oswald Mosley, Teddy Boys is the story of Britain's first youth counterculture.

Coincidentally I was thinking about British youth movements yesterday. They seem to have died a death, or do for example drill music and balaclavas count?
But going back before my time, wouldn’t skiffle & the trad jazz movement vie with the teds for #1 place?

Stephen wrote:


"But going back before my time, wouldn’t skiffle & the trad jazz movement vie with the teds for #1 place?"

Good point, although the first Teds emerged in the early 50s so perhaps not?

Billy Bragg's skiffle book is fab, see also Pete Frame's too. Both very illuminating and enjoyable

I forgot to mention that I finished Teddy Boys: Post-War Britain and the First Youth Revolution

Well worth a read if you find the subculture interesting

Review here...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Also Max Décharné was interviewed about his book on a recent episode of the Word In Your Ear podcast and it's great....

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...

I really enjoyed Max’s Teds book, and was very pleased that he’d finally interjected something of his personality into his non-fiction writing.

For various reasons, the book had a long and incredibly difficult birth, but I think the finished result was well worth the wait. What a staggering amount of research went into it!

100% Mark

I’m very pleased -- as is Max -- to see the book get the visibility and recognition that it has. The publisher has truly got behind it, and the reviews and publicity have far exceeded anything that had come before with his previous books.

In a world overly-cluttered with books about punk rock, it’s bewildering how the definitive book about Teds remained unwritten for so long.

It’s been on my list since Max made a very worthwhile appearance on Word In Your Ear.

https://youtu.be/S8h0obK22IQ?si=m9s5X...

Yeah, Max had sent me that link -- really enjoyed the chat!