John Higgs

The brilliant first biography of the man President Nixon called the most dangerous man in America. Timothy Leary was one of the most controversial and divisive figures of the twentieth century. President Nixon called him the most dangerous man in America. Hunter S. Thompson said that he was not just wrong, but a treacherous creep and a horrible goddamn person. Yet the writer Terence McKenna claims that he probably made more people happy than anyone else in history. A brilliant Harvard psychologist, Leary was sacked because of his research into LSD and other psychedelic drugs. He went on to become the global figurehead of the 1960s drug culture, coin the phrase tune in, turn on and drop out, and persuade millions of people to take drugs and explore alternativelifestyles yet the tremendous impact of his scandalous research has been so controversial that it has completely overshadowed the man himself and the details of his life. Few people realise that Timothy Learys life is one of the greatest untold adventure stories of the twentieth century. Timothy Leary led a life of unflagging optimism and reckless devotion to freedom. It was, in the words of his goddaughter Winona Ryder, not just epic grandeur but flat-out epic grandeur. Learys life is undoubtedly one of the greatest untold adventure stories of the twentieth century and this book presents it for the first time in all its uncensored glory.

Terrifically lucid and compact . . . an unassumingly intuitive and insightful brief history . . . will tell you more about [Lynchs] life and filmmaking than a thousand academic studiesPETER BRADSHAW, THE SPECTATORThe loss of David Lynch in January 2025 produced an extraordinary outpouring of love and grief that revealed how deeply he mattered. But the strength and size of this reaction came as a surprise to many. In life, Lynch was a wilfully obtuse cult filmmaker who had been unable to get a film financed for the last two decades of his life. In death, both the man himself and his work are unquestionably in the pantheon of all-time greats.He leaves behind an adjective, Lynchian, a term used to describe work that echoes his. And yet, only Lynch could be truly Lynchian, and those who copy him fail to have an impact. So why does his work affect people so deeply? Why do some find it haunting and unforgettable while others dismiss it as meaningless? Answering that question takes us into the strange realms of psychology, art and theology. We will discover why ambiguity and mystery are so seductive, how Lynchs creative and meditative practices overlapped and why a director whose work contains so much abuse of women has such a female-skewing fanbase.Through a personal, first-person lens, Lynchian unpacks the mystery but refuses to solve the enigma of an artist whose work reshaped cinema from the inside out - where story gives way to dreams, and meaning lies not in answers, but in experience.

When we look into the future we imagine economic collapse environmental disaster and the zombie apocalypse But what if we are wrong John Higgs takes us on a journey past the technological hype and headlines to discover why we shouldn t trust the predictions of science fiction why nature is not as helpless as we assume and why purpose can never be automated In the process we will come to a better understanding of what lies ahead and how despite everything we can build a better future

When we look into the future, we imagine economic collapse, environmental disaster and the zombie apocalypse. But what if we are wrong? John Higgs takes us on a journey past the technological hype and headlines to discover why we shouldnt trust the predictions of science fiction, why nature is not as helpless as we assume and why purpose can never be automated. In the process, we will come to a better understanding of what lies ahead and how, despite everything we can build a better future.

Smart, analytical and enormously good fun Stuart Maconie, Mail on SundayIngenious . . . conjures a whole cultural history of the past six decadesThe SpectatorStrikingly insightful . . . page after page of glorious anecdotesThe i NewspaperA book to leave you shaken and stirredIndependentPoignant and entertainingObserverIf you take popular culture seriously, this is the book for you Jeremy DellerDr 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.

The best non-fiction book Ive ever read. Its magical. Stunning Dan Schreiber, No Such Thing As a FishA pop biography for people who dont read pop biographies Dorian Lynskey, GuardianBrilliant, discursive and wise Ben GoldacreUtterly irresistible and totally brilliantThe QuietusA thing of endlessly fascinating, utterly demented genius Alexis PetridisTHE STRANGE TALE OF THE DEATH, LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE HUGELY SUCCESSFUL BAND.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 couldnt say why.This is not just the story of The KLF. It is a book about Carl Jung, Alan Moore, Robert Anton Wilson, Ken Campbell, Dada, Situationism, Discordianism, magic, chaos, punk, rave, the alchemical symbolism of Doctor Who and the special power of the number 23.Wildly unauthorised and unlike any other music biography, THE KLF is a trawl through chaos on the trail of a beautiful, accidental mythology.

A journey along one of Britains 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 HollandWinding 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.

In the modern, democratic twenty-first century, the notion of an unelected, dynastic monarchy is not easy to defend.This new book argues that the current monarchy is by far the best system for choosing a Head of State - providing that it is understood that we are not subjects and that the monarchy are not our superiors. They are, in actual fact, our pets. In this original eBook, John Higgs, author of the The 20th Century: An Alternative History, makes an argument in favour of the monarchy that will annoy royalists even more than it will annoy republicans. This is a tongue-in-cheek, witty examination of the persistence of monarchy in the modern world.

An illuminating work of massive insight Alan MooreA sensational book. Heartily recommended Rufus HoundIt 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.

FascinatingThe TimesBlakeian in its singularityNew StatesmanA wonderful adventureIrish TimesRich, complex and original Tom HollandA crisp, ambitious and thoroughly contemporary introductionTimes Literary SupplementPoet, artist, visionary and author of the unofficial English national anthem Jerusalem, William Blake is an archetypal misunderstood genius. In this radical new biography, we return to a world of riots, revolutions and radicals, discuss movements from the Levellers of the sixteenth century to the psychedelic counterculture of the 1960s, and explore the latest discoveries in neurobiology, quantum physics and comparative religion to look afresh at Blakes life and work - and, crucially, his mind. Taking the reader on wild detours into unfamiliar territory, John Higgs places the bewildering eccentricities of a most singular artist into context and shows us how Blake can help us better understand ourselves.

If a thing loves, it is infinite William BlakeA short, impassioned argument for why the visionary artist William Blake is important in the twenty-first centuryThe visionary poet and painter William Blake is a constant presence throughout contemporary culture - from videogames to novels, from sporting events to political rallies and from horror films to designer fashion. Although he died nearly 200 years ago, something about his work continues to haunt the twenty-first century. What is it about Blake that has so endured? In this illuminating essay, John Higgs takes us on a whirlwind tour to prove that far from being the mere New Age counterculture figure that many assume him to be, Blake is now more relevant than ever.

¿Realmente crees conocer la historia del tan cercano siglo XX? La historia del siglo XX contada a través de las ideas producidas en los márgenes de la ciencia, las artes y la cultura. Antes de 1900, la historia parecia seguir una linea clara, con innovaciones como la maquina de vapor, la agricultura o la electricidad. El siglo XX, por el contrario, dio lugar al entrelazamiento cuantico, al cubismo, a la relatividad, a la psicodelia, al posmodernismo, a la teoria del caos y a la batalla del Somme. Con el fin de comenzar a darle sentido a esta endiablada maraña de ideas extrañas, necesitamos un nuevo tipo de narrativa historica. Con John Higgs como guia, nos salimos del camino trazado y paseamos por algunos de los mas curiosos senderos del siglo XX, explorando terrenos familiares y no tan familiares, y en el camino descubrimos nuevas claves para entender el mundo de hoy. Nos acompañan en este periplo algunos de los mas radicales artistas, cientificos, genios y locos de su tiempo, que nos ayudan a entender en que medida el cubismo, la mecanica cuantica, el posmodernismo y la teoria del caos, lejos de ser horroroses conceptos abstractos, fueron en realidad grandes señales que nos condujeron al siglo XXI. Nuestro mundo no es solo mas extraño de lo queimaginamos sino incluso, en palabras de Sir ArthurEddington, mas extraño de lo que cabe imaginar. La critica ha dicho...Parecia que nunca se escribiria una historia del siglo pasado, dado que creiamos saber demasiado sobre ese periodo frenetico y lleno de acontecimientos. Ahora, con la tinta de la era recien secada, John Higgs echa abajo esta hipotesis con un mapa increiblemente lucido y coherente de los cambios tectonicos que reformaron drasticamente la psique humana y el mundo durante cien emocionantes y aterradores años... Una obra reveladora en la que John Higgs nos informa exactamente de donde venimos y, por extension, adonde vamos. No puedo sino recomendar encarecidamente este magnifico libro.Alan Moore, autor de V de Vendetta y Watchmen

A TARDIS of a book. On the outside its about a TV show, but open it up and the whole space-time continuum is inside FRANK COTTRELL-BOYCEWonderful ROBIN INCEThe book Ive been waiting to read since I was ten years old JEREMY DYSONFrom the author of cult classics THE KLF and WILLIAM BLAKE VS THE WORLD, this is the stranger than fiction story of TVs favourite time travellerOn screen, Doctor Who is a story of monsters, imagination and mind-expanding adventure. But the off-screen story is equally extraordinary - a tale of failed monks, war heroes, 1960s polyamory and self-sabotaging broadcasting executives. From the politics of fandom to the inner struggles of the BBC, thousands of people have given part of themselves - and sometimes, too much of themselves - to bring this unlikeliest of folk heroes to life.This is a story of change, mystery and the importance of imaginary characters in our lives. Able to evolve and adapt more radically than any other fiction, Doctor Who has acted as a mirror to more than six decades of social, technological and cultural change while always remaining a central fixture of the British imagination. In Exterminate / Regenerate, John Higgs invites us into his TARDIS on a journey to discover how ideas emerge and survive despite the odds, why we are so addicted to fiction, and why this wonderful wandering time traveller means so much to so many.

¿Realmente crees conocer la historia del tan cercano siglo XX?La historia del siglo XX contada a través de las ideas producidas en los márgenes de la ciencia, las artes y la cultura.Antes de 1900, la historia parecia seguir una linea clara, con innovaciones como la maquina de vapor, la agricultura o la electricidad. El siglo XX, por el contrario, dio lugar al entrelazamiento cuantico, al cubismo, a la relatividad, a la psicodelia, al posmodernismo, a la teoria del caos y a la batalla del Somme. Con el fin de comenzar a darle sentido a esta endiablada maraña de ideas extrañas, necesitamos un nuevo tipo de narrativa historica.Con John Higgs como guia, nos salimos del camino trazado y paseamos por algunos de los mas curiosos senderos del siglo XX, explorando terrenos familiares y no tan familiares, y en el camino descubrimos nuevas claves para entender el mundo de hoy. Nos acompañan en este periplo algunos de los mas radicales artistas, cientificos, genios y locos de su tiempo, que nos ayudan a entender en que medida el cubismo, la mecanica cuantica, el posmodernismo y la teoria del caos, lejos de ser horroroses conceptos abstractos, fueron en realidad grandes señales que nos condujeron al siglo XXI.Nuestro mundo no es solo mas extraño de lo queimaginamos sino incluso, en palabras de Sir ArthurEddington, mas extraño de lo que cabe imaginar.La critica ha dicho... Parecia que nunca se escribiria una historia del siglo pasado, dado que creiamos saber demasiado sobre ese periodo frenetico y lleno de acontecimientos. Ahora, con la tinta de la era recien secada, John Higgs echa abajo esta hipotesis con un mapa increiblemente lucido y coherente de los cambios tectonicos que reformaron drasticamente la psique humana y el mundo durante cien emocionantes y aterradores años... Una obra reveladora en la que John Higgs nos informa exactamente de donde venimos y, por extension, adonde vamos. No puedo sino recomendar encarecidamente este magnifico libro. Alan Moore, autor de V de Vendetta y Watchmen