Dont Look Back In Anger, Daniel Rachel
Dont Look Back In Anger, Daniel Rachel
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Don't Look Back In Anger
The rise and fall of Cool Britannia, told by those who were there

Author: Daniel Rachel

Narrator: Charles Armstrong, David John, Dean Williamson, Jot Davies, Louise Brealey, Paul McGann, Shvorne Marks, Tania Rodrigues

Unabridged: 18 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Trapeze

Published: 09/05/2019

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

Read by Paul McGann, Louise Brealey, Tania Rodrigues, Shvorne Marks, Jot Davies, David John, Dean Williamson and Charles Armstrong. Introduced by Daniel Rachel, and featuring audio-exclusive extracts from Daniel's source interviews.

The nineties was the decade when British culture reclaimed its position at the artistic centre of the world. Not since the 'Swinging Sixties' had art, comedy, fashion, film, football, literature and music interwoven into a blooming of national self-confidence. It was the decade of Lad Culture and Girl Power; of Blur vs Oasis. When fashion runways shone with British talent, Young British Artists became household names, football was 'coming home' and British film went worldwide. From Old Labour's defeat in 1992 through to New Labour's historic landslide in 1997, Don't Look Back In Anger chronicles the Cool Britannia age when the country united through a resurgence of patriotism and a celebration of all things British.

But it was also an era of false promises and misplaced trust, when the weight of substance was based on the airlessness of branding, spin and the first stirrings of celebrity culture. A decade that started with hope then ended with the death of the 'people's princess' and 9/11 - an event that redefined a new world order.

Through sixty-seven voices that epitomise the decade - including Tony Blair, John Major, Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Tracey Emin, Keith Allen, Meera Syal, David Baddiel, Irvine Welsh and Steve Coogan - we re-live the epic highs and crashing lows of one of the most eventful periods in British history. Today, in an age where identity dominates the national agenda, Don't Look Back In Anger is a necessary and compelling historical document.

About Daniel Rachel

Birmingham-born Daniel Rachel is a former musician-turned-award-winning and bestselling author whose previous works include: Isle of Noises: Conversations with Great British Songwriters (a Guardian and NME Book of the Year), Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music & Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge (winner of the Penderyn Music Book prize), Don't Look Back in Anger: the Rise & Fall of Cool Britannia (an Evening Standard and Metro Book of the Year), The Lost Album of The Beatles: What if the Beatles hadn't Split Up? (Guardian Book of the Day and Amazon No. 1 Bestseller), Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story: Rude Boys, Racism and the Soundtrack of a Generation (a Sunday Times, Uncut, Rough Trade US and Resident Music Book of the Year), One For The Road (The Life & Lyrics of Simon Fowler & Ocean Colour Scene)#, Oasis: Knebworth: Two Nights That Will Live Forever (with Jill Furmanovsky - A Sunday Times bestseller), When Ziggy Played the Marquee by Terry O'Neill (editor) and co-writer of Ranking Roger's autobiography I Just Can't Stop It: My Life in The Beat (a Vive Le Rock Book of the Year).

About Dean Williamson

Dean Williamson is a professional actor with a great deal of experience in Film, TV and Theatre.Voice work includes film and TV dubbing, corporate and commercial work, as well as audio guides and audio books. Previous audio books include Hell's Fire, The Edge and Cut Adrift by Chris Simms, Even The Dogs by Jon McGregor and The Water Theatre by Lindsay Clarke.

About Paul McGann

Paul McGann trained at RADA. He came to prominence in the BBC¹s MONOCLED MUTINEER, before starring in WITHNAIL AND I with Richard E Grant. Notable Hollywood appearances have been in DOWNTIME and FAIRY TALE, A TRUE STORY. In 1996 he became the 8th incarnation of TV¹s DOCTOR WHO, followed by a lead role in OUR MUTUAL FRIEND.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Rita on October 15, 2019

Very informative and funny! I really reccomend the audiobook version as it allows you to listen to excerpts from the actual interviews.......more

Goodreads review by Zachary on April 19, 2023

I have finished reading “Don’t Look Back in Anger: The Rise and Fall of Cool Britannia, told by those who were there” by Daniel Rachel. This book is an oral history that follows the course of the Cool Britannia decade (the 1990s), with contributions from figures famous from that era who include; arti......more

Goodreads review by Joe on December 21, 2019

Given the political hellscape and cultural wasteland that we inhabit in the late 2010s, it is perhaps understandable that recent years have seen an upsurge in rose-tinted nostalgia for the halcyon days of the 1990s. The now commonly-touted narrative is that the 1990s were a time of post-Berlin Wall......more

Goodreads review by Ophelia Sings on September 03, 2019

I wasn't expecting this book to be a series of bitesize 'talking heads'-type snapshots from the figures of the day, and at first I was somewhat disappointed by the format. However, I stuck with it and urge you to do the same. The vast cast - a truly diverse one, at that - means that the 90s are seen......more

Goodreads review by Neal on December 05, 2020

I went back and forth between 2 and 5 stars on this book at various points. 1. The participants are fantastic, but it’s worth emphasizing that this really does cover a broad scope of “Cool Britannia,” including a lot around the art and fashion scenes. The book was recommended to me as a Britpop book,......more


Quotes

A rollicking read....a tale of hedonism and opportunism, of great hope and dashed expectations MAIL ON SUNDAY

A grade, A list oral history...through this shifting, twisting narrative, Rachel creates a potent record THE SUNDAY TIMES

Entertaining OBSERVER

Rachel proves himself, again, the Studs Terkel of British pop political movements, delivering a brilliantly polyphonic pop-cultural history of Britain in the 1990s. Provoking a heady stew of memories for those who lived through it, and acting as a primer for the era for those who missed out, Don't Look In Anger conveys something of the hope, energy, optimism and egalitarianism that seemed to abound then. Things we could perhaps do with rather more of right now

Eminently, moreishly readable THE NEW STATESMAN

We guarantee, this will change the way you think about the era you lived through DAVID HEPWORTH

The tumult, the triumph and the toilery of the 90s...a who's who of the decade, chocked full of anecdotes from all the runners and riders BBC 6 MUSIC

I read this book its really good if you are interested in the 1990s ALAN MCGEE

Book of the Week GUARDIAN

Such a good speaker - precise and thoughtful and funny - and full of great theories and stories. Daniel's got an enviable knack of being able to explain really complicated analysis very clearly. It's so original to read about the 90s that takes in all those different perspectives - politics, art, sport, media etc. - and doesn't just paint a picture of a heap of cocaine with Noel Gallagher in the middle of it