Absolute Beginners

Colin MacInnes

From Shelf: The 80s

London, 1958. In the jazz clubs of Soho and the coffee bars of Notting Hill the young and the restless - the absolute beginners - are forging a new lifestyle of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. Moving through this world is MacInnes' young photographer, whose wit and honest views remain definitive of 1950s London and what it means to be a teenager.

London, 1958. In the smoky jazz clubs of Soho and the coffee bars of Notting Hill the young and the restless - the absolute beginners - are forging a new carefree lifestyle of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. Moving in the midst of this world of mods and rockers, Teddy gangs and trads., and snapping every scene with his trusty Rolleiflex, is MacInnes' young photographer, whose unique wit and honest views remain the definitive account of London life in the 1950s and what it means to be a teenager. In this twentieth century cult classic, MacInnes captures the spirit of a generation and creates the style bible for anyone interested in Mod culture, and the changing face of London in the era of the first race riots and the lead up to the swinging Sixties...

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