Why have both pop and politics in Britain become the preserve of an unrepresentative elite? From chav-pop pantomimes to retro-chauvinist 'landfill indie', the bland, homogenous and compromised nature of the current "alternative" sector reflects the interests of a similarly complacent and privileged political establishment. In particular, political and media policing of female social and sexual autonomy, through the neglected but significant gendered dimensions of the discourse surrounding ...

The wave of unrest which took place in 1840s Wales, known as ‘Rebeccaism’ or ‘the Rebecca riots’, stands out as a success story within the generally gloomy annals of popular struggle and defeat. The story is remembered in vivid and compelling images: attacks on tollgates and other symbols of perceived injustice by farmers and workers, outlandishly dressed in bonnets and petticoats and led by the iconic anonymous figure of Rebecca herself. The events form a core part of historical study and...

The UK alternative rock band, Manic Street Preachers, were and remain one of the most interesting, significant, and best-loved bands of the past thirty years. Their third album The Holy Bible (1994) is generally acknowledged to be their most enduring and fascinating work, and one of the most compelling and challenging records of the nineties. Triptych reconsiders The Holy Bible from three separate, intersecting angles, combining the personal with the political, history with memory, and pop...

Waterstones Welsh Book of the Month - November 2021The '70s wasn't all glam rock and flares, punk and pogo-ing…In Painting the Beauty Queens Orange, the women who lived the decade reveal what it meant to push boundaries, claim your identity, and carve out your place amidst the winter of discontent, the scorching summer of '76 and the rise of Thatcherism.One young woman says a forced goodbye to her newborn baby. Another grasps new opportunities...

Paint Your Town Red tells the story of how one city in the north of England decided to level up without waiting for Whitehall.Across the world, there is a growing recognition that a new kind of economy is needed: more democratic, less exploitative, less destructive of society and the planet. Paint Your Town Red looks at how wealth can be generated and shared at a local level through the experience of one of the main advocates of the new Democratic Economy,...

In a unique study of parent-infant interactions at home, Rhian Jones analyses early reading with picture books and stories. Drawing upon psychology, linguistics and anthropology she provides a wide ranging and highly original account of the conversational 'rules' of reading dialogues, semantic knowledge and picture book reading, the ontogenesis of narrative and the construction and expression of the infant unconscious. This provides an absorbing and valuable account to all academics and pr...

Women write about their experiences of loving music that doesn’t love them back – a feminist 'guilty pleasures'.e - a kind of feminist guilty pleasures.In the majority of mainstream writing and discussions on music, women appear purely in relation to men as muses, groupies or fangirls, with our own experiences, ideas and arguments dismissed or ignored. But this hasn’t stopped generations of women from loving, being moved by and critically appreciating music, even – and sometimes es...

Are you interested in learning how to cultivate sustainable success in the popular music industry whilst prioritising your health? If so, this book is for you. Inside you’ll find research-informed advice and information that aims to help musicians, as well as those that work with them, navigate their way through what can be a challenging and demanding industry.This book covers the mental and physical health problems research suggests musicians might come up against and offers lots ...

An extraordinary vision of the future that puts dystopian fiction in a whole new light, from the award-winning author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August**.**“Thought provoking, imaginative, and packs a hell of an emotional punch.” —Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of TimeVen was once a holy man, a keeper of ancient archives. It was his duty to interpret archaic texts, sorting...

“Simultaneously brutally grounded and wildly imaginative.” —Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award winnerA tense and thrilling vision of humanity’s future in the chilling emptiness of space from rising giant in science fiction, Arthur C. Clarke Award winner Tade ThompsonThe colony ship Ragtime docks in the Lagos system, having traveled light-years to bring one thousand sleeping souls to a new home among the stars. But when firs...

Everyone knows the story of Rapunzel in her tower, but do you know the story of the witch who put her there? Mary McMyne’s spellbinding debut reveals the truth behind the fairy tale—the truth they never wanted you to know, as only a witch might tell it."Smart, swift, sure-footed and fleet-winged, The Book of Gothel launches its magic from a most reliable source: the troubled heart. Mary McMyne is a magician."—Gregory Maguire, NYT bestselling author of Wick...

"Funny, wild, witty, and profound.”―Victor LaValle"A wild and wonderful debut, teeming with music, family and art."—New York Times"Magical, lyrical, gritty, otherworldly…hype like Bayou Classic in the 90s."—P. Djèlí ClarkOne of the Best Fantasy Books of 2022: New York Times; Oprah Daily; Vulture; Gizmodo; Boston Public LibraryA fun and fantastical ...