They were the bestselling singles band in the world. They had awards, credibility, commercial success and creative freedom. Then they deleted their records, erased themselves from musical history and burnt their last million pounds in a boathouse on the Isle of Jura - and they couldn't say why. Wildly unauthorised, 'The KLF' is a trawl through chaos on the trail of a beautiful, accidental mythology and a journey through punk, rave, the alchemical symbolism of Doctor Who and the special power of the number 23.
'An illuminating work of massive insight' Alan Moore 'A sensational book. Heartily recommended' Rufus Hound It is the century about which we know too much, yet understand too little. With disorientating ideas such as relativity, cubism, the id, existentialism, chaos mathematics and postmodernism to contend with, the twentieth century, John Higgs argues, cannot fit easily into a traditional historical narrative. Time, then, for a new perspective. Higgs takes us on a refreshingly eclectic journey through the knotty history of the strangest of centuries. In the company of radical artists, scientists, geniuses and eccentrics, he shows us how the elegant, clockwork universe of the Victorians became increasingly woozy and uncertain; and how in the twentieth century we discovered that our world is not just stranger than we imagine, but 'stranger than we can imagine'.
A wild and unexpected journey through culture, science, philosophy and
religion to better understand the mercurial genius William Blake in the
twenty-first century
Dr No, the first Bond film, and Love Me Do, the first Beatles record, were released on the same day. Most countries can only dream of creating a phenomenon on this scale; Britain produced two on one windy October afternoon. Told over sixty dramatic years, Love and Let Die is the story of two culture touchstones that continue to define our aspirations and fantasies; of opposing values, visions of Britain and ideas about male identity; and of how a clash between working class liberation and establishment control exploded on the global stage.
A journey along one of Britain's oldest roads, from Dover to Anglesey, in search of the hidden history that makes us who we are today. 'A bravura piece of writing - Bill Bryson on acid' Tom Holland Winding its way from the White Cliffs of Dover to the Druid groves of Anglesey, the ancient road of Watling Street has gone by many different names. It is a road of witches and ghosts, of queens and highwaymen, of history and myth, of Bletchley Park codebreakers, Chaucer, Boudicca, Dickens and James Bond. But Watling Street is not just the story of a route across our island. It is an acutely observed exploration of Britain and who we are today, told with wit and an unerring eye for the curious and surprising.
Izvanredna priča o 20. stoljeću sagledana iz perspektive znanosti, umjetnosti i kulture – savršeno štivo za sve obožavatelje Brysonove knjige Kod kuće. Dvadeseto stoljeće trebalo bi imati smisla. To je povijesno razdoblje o kojem znamo najviše, epska geopolitička priča koja se kreće kroz Prvi svjetski rat, veliku krizu, Drugi svjetski rat, američko stoljeće i pad berlinskog zida. Ali nekako ta priča ne vodi sasvim k svijetu u kojem se danas nalazimo, ovom čudnovatom 21. stoljeću koje se batrga u mreži stalnoga nadzora, neodržive konkurencije, poplave trivijalnoga i izvanrednih prilika. Vrijeme je, dakle, za nove vidike. Sa Johnom Higgsom kao vodičem skrećemo s dobro utabane staze i lutamo nekim zanimljivim stranputicama dvadesetog stoljeća, istražujući i poznat i nepoznat teren, nalazimo nove poglede na svojem putu do naše sadašnjosti. Krećemo se u društvu nekih od najradikalnijih umjetnika, znanstvenika, genija i luđaka onoga doba. Oni nam pokazuju da veliki noviteti poput relativnosti, kubizma, kvantne mehanike, postmodernizma i matematike kaosa nisu nerazumljivi apstraktni užasi kakvima ih smatramo, nego putokazi koji nas vode k svijetu u kojem danas živimo. John Higgs donosi nam alternativnu povijest najčudnijeg od svih stoljeća. Pokazuje nam kako je elegantni precizni mehanizam viktorijanskog svemira bivao sve klimaviji i neizvjesniji i kako smo otkrili da naš svijet nije samo čudniji nego što zamišljamo, nego je, prema riječima Sir Arthura Eddingtona „čudniji nego što to uopće možemo zamisliti”.
