There's A Riot Going On: Revolutionaries, Rock Stars, and the Rise and Fall of '60s Counter-Culture

(Paperback, Main)

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Between 1965 and 1972, political activists around the globe prepared to mount a revolution. While the Vietnam War raged, calls for black power grew louder and liberation movements erupted everywhere from Africa to Western Europe. Demonstrators took to the streets, fought gun battles with police, planted bombs in public buildings and attempted to overthrow the world's most powerful governments.

Rock and soul music fuelled the revolutionary movement with anthems and iconic imagery. Soon the musicians themselves, from John Lennon and Bob Dylan to James Brown and Fela Kuti, were being dragged into the fray. Some joined the protesters on the barricades; some were persecuted for their political activism; some abandoned the cause and were dismissed as counter-revolutionaries.

Reviews

* Peter Doggett's weighty tome is a treasure trove of countercultural anecdotes and reportage. New Statesman * Tells the story in an exemplary way. Financial Times * Doggett has mastered hundreds of interviews, contemporary accounts and documents to put together this meticulously researched, scholarly and often gripping portrait of an era. Sunday Telegraph * Doggett's encyclopaedic account of Sixties counter-culture is a fascinating history of pop's relationship with politics, examining the establishment's skill at assimilating rock 'n' roll rebellion into the mainstream. Independent * Doggett has a brisk, readable style, with an astute eye for the idiosyncrasies of the period. Telegraph * ...a fresh and near-definitive slant on a subject you might have thought had been picked clean by journalists and historians. Time Out * Peter Doggett's There's a Riot Going On is a lot of fun, but it also needs to be read by anyone who wants to understand the significance of the 60s or the role of pop culture. It is a very important book and I am sure I will go back to it numerous times. Mark Kurlansky, author of 1968 and Salt * An impressive account. Observer 20081130 * Doggett examines the era with brilliant, creative meticulousness, song by song, riot by riot, poem by poem, dispelling myths...and uncovering truths...until you get caught inextricably up in the whirlwind of the greatest decade on record. Absolutely unmissable. Maxim 20090201 * Doggett's voluminous record unveils the hippie dream of remaking the world as mere fashion. Sunday Herald 20090308

Author Bio

Peter Doggett is one of the UK's leading rock writers and journalists. He was editor of Record Collector magazine for fifteen years, and currently writes for Mojo and Q among others. His most recent book is Are You Ready for the Country (Viking), an authoritative history of country rock. He has also written biographies of John Lennon and Lou Reed.