Absolute Beginners

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...



A talented off-beat journalist and social observer, Colin MacInnes is best known for his trilogy of London novels which includes

Absolute Beginners as well as

City of Spades and

Mr Love and Justice. He also wrote about the allied occupation of Germany in the aftermath of the Second World War, in

June in Her Spring and

England, Half English. He died of cancer in 1976. Since his death his best essays, fiction and journalism have been published in various collections.