000			02117cam a2200289 i 4500
001			124651
005			20230410143207.0
008			170403b2015 enka 000 0 eng
020			_a9780141979304
020			_a0141979305
020			_a0241004659
020			_a9780241004654
041	0		_aEng
050	1	4	_abS194g 2015
100	1		_aSandbrook, Dominic.
245	0	4	_aThe great British dream factory / _bthe strange history of our national imagination : _cDominic Sandbrook
260			_aLondon : _bAllen Lane, _c2015.
300			_axxxviii, 647 p. : _bill. ; _c24 cm.
500			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520			_aBritain's empire has gone. Our manufacturing base is a shadow of its former self; the Royal Navy has been reduced to a skeleton. In military, diplomatic and economic terms, we no longer matter as we once did. And yet there is still one area in which we can legitimately claim superpower status: our popular culture. It is extraordinary to think that one British writer, J K Rowling, has sold more than 400 million books; that Doctor Who is watched in almost every developed country in the world; that James Bond has been the central character in the longest-running film series in history; that The Lord of the Rings is the second best-selling novel ever written (behind only A Tale of Two Cities); that the Beatles are still the best-selling musical group of all time; and that only Shakespeare and the Bible have sold more books than Agatha Christie. To put it simply, no country on earth, relative to its size, has contributed more to the modern imagination. This is a book about the success and the meaning of Britain's modern popular culture, from Bond and the Beatles to heavy metal and Coronation Street, from the Angry Young Men to Harry Potter, from Damien Hirst to The X Factor.
650		0	_aPopular culture--Great Britain.
650			_aGreat Britain--Social life and customs--1945.
650			_aArts--Great Britain.
650			_aCivilization, Modern--British influences.
650			_aGreat Britain--Civilization--1945-
942			_2lcc _cbk
999			_c97458 _d97458