STRANGE DAYS INDEED: THE GOLDEN AGE OF PARANOIA PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Francis Wheen | 352 pages | 15 Apr 2010 | HarperCollins Publishers | 9780007244287 | English | London, United Kingdom Strange Days Indeed: The Golden Age of Paranoia PDF Book He documents the 'paranoid style' that dominated the decade from statesmanship and politics through to pop culture and the man on the street! And then, by , Wheen just seems to give up. Julia is the literary contributor to Yachting Monthly. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. It lurches from the planet-defining to to the local history. The sense of paranoia that had long fuelled the conspiracy theories of fringe political groups then somehow became the norm for millions The s were a theme park of mass paranoia. I originally started this book because of the author. The Wilson and Marcia saga may be the most horrifically funny political saga ever, what with Marcia's fears of being lured unawares into orgies, Wilson's bizarre acceptance of whatever abuse she threw his way and some staff members wondering if offing Marcia might not be the best for England. Aug 15, Robin rated it liked it. Reminds me of Nick Hornby's work. Wheen stops in the mids and one wonders if the madness stopped then or continues to go on at the top levels of governments around the world. Time even ran a cover story last December calling it " the Decade from Hell. Jun 07, C rated it it was ok Shelves: history , s. We have recently updated our Privacy Policy. Wheen's last book, How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World , used as a starting point for examining the growth of conspiracy theory, superstition and the supernatural in so-called modern thinking. Aussie indie rockers, Floodlights' debut From a View is a very cleanly, crisply-produced and mixed collection of shambolic, do-it-yourself indie guitar music. Beyond such delights contained within its pages, it's also the type of book that leads you to other things. I do recall Three Mile Island, a solar eclip I originally started this book because of the author. There is a huge amount of great comedic material in these indexes. He has been the partner for 27 years of Julia Jones formerly Julia Thorogood since the mids who he married quietly last year; they have two sons. All rights reserved. Indeed within a few chapters I had ordered a copy of hi I was casting about for a book about revolutionary terrorists operating in the s, and in particular the Angry Brigade. She likes comedy, books and indexes and really likes comedy book indexes. Focusing almost entirely on British and American politics with a chapter set aside for Uganda's Idi Amin , Wheen weaves said concepts into an historical theme which distinguishes the period supposedly from the Sixties and Eighties - though he claims its lingering effects live on to some degree today. Strange Days Indeed: The Golden Age of Paranoia Writer Who Was Dr. Look who just snuck in at the end there. I was in grade school during this decade, and I remember very little about what happened. Wheen is the author of several books, including a biography of Karl Marx [4] which won the Deutscher Memorial Prize in , [5] and has been translated into twenty languages. A wonderfully entertaining history of the '70s. So in Wheen's book I was expecting more of a cultural history of the s, though there was not much of that. What a damn shame. Wheen joins the dots a recurrent phrase of conspiracy theorists and gives a fascinating overview of a world in chaos, from the USA to China, from the UK to Uganda and beyond. It's the public narrative turned inside out. He writes for Private Eye and is currently the magazine's deputy editor. There are some interesting parts, especially the bits about Nixon, Mao, and various dictators. That said, what was there was quite interesting. It is a very topical book as well, and a good read for anyone interested in the s and its relation to the contemporary world. I am glad, though, that I read it right before David Peace's Nineteen Seventy-Four, because otherwise I would have missed a lot of the time period. Despite the topics under discussion, the book is very readable and frequently amusing and the book abounds with surprising and amazing anecdotes about figures like Carlos the Jackal, Idi Amin, Tariq Ali, Harold Wilson, Uri Geller and many more. Unfortunately there has been a problem with your order. Whilst reading it, I made notes to perhaps seek out The Illuminatus! Aug 01, Marcia rated it it was ok Shelves: nonfiction , read-in , politics , history-nonfiction , american-history , read-from-the-library. Francis is an outstanding biographer and cultural commentator. He was married to the writer Joan Smith between and I really wanted to enjoy this book. I loved this - almost all the episodes he describes occurred as I was - in any sense - becoming "aware", and he reports various things I hadn't already known about the Big Events of the 70s decade. Strange Days Indeed: The Golden Age of Paranoia Reviews At this moment, it seems indeed a wonder that so many people simply managed to muddle through at all, even with the equally understandable aid of drug abuse. We are not told whether or how Francis Wheen dropped back in, or how he spent the rest of the Seventies. Books Francis is an outstanding biographer and cultural commentator. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Lists with This Book. Francis Wheen expands on the whole decade as well as showing me how similar are current times are to that one. There are many serious and sad matters covered in both books e. Wheen was a close friend of the writer Christopher Hitchens. Aug 25, Stephen McQuiggan rated it it was amazing. Additionally, American readers may find a number of British public figures and issues with which they are unfamiliar. The book also only seems to make it through about before ending. To ask other readers questions about Strange Days Indeed , please sign up. Jul 25, The American Conservative added it. Trivia About Strange Days Inde Two final global political examples from the Strange Days index: Amin, President Idi: […] likened to Pol Pot, ; likened to Lady Falkender, ; prehistoric monster, , ; splendid rugger player, ; comic figure, —6; lord of all the beasts and fishes, ; mass-murderer, —4 Jiang Qing Madame Mao : morbidly sensitive, 9, , ; falls off lavatory, Authors and theorists Much of Mumbo-Jumbo includes discussion of various authors and theorists either behind or against the spread of said mumbo-jumbo: Dawkins, Richard: demands astrologers be jailed, —7; disses The X-Files , de Bono, Edward: first original thinker since Plato, 58; praises Harry Helmsley and Robert Maxwell, 59 Deleuze, Gilles: incomprehensibility of, 87—8 [Try indexing a book on him. At Harrow he was a contemporary of Mark Thatcher who has been a recurring subject of his journalism. From the chief civil servant who circumvents imaginary listening devices by conducting meetings in the nude to Prime Minister Wilson, his political secretary Marcia and her all powerful handbag there's plenty of side-splitting entertainment. Depending on perspective, Nixon can be seen as both cause and effect, with his "enemies list" and taping his own conversations while at the same time burglarizing and bugging those perceived enemies. But what Francis Wheen does is take us behind the scenes, backstage, as it were, to see the stage props, and the actors without their make up. Living in South Africa we were only very vaguely aware of Britains "winter of discontent" and its "Who governs Britain? Other editions. There are some interesting parts, especially the bits about Nixon, Mao, and various dictators. Even stranger things are afoot too, with frequent references to aliens, UFOs and various otherworldly oddities in the Strange Days index:. Jul 23, Sandra Ross rated it it was amazing. Call us on or send us an email at. Jul 09, Roger Boyle rated it it was amazing. We have recently updated our Privacy Policy. As he describes it: With my rucksack and guitar in hand, I came to London on 27 December brimming with the ambition and optimism of the Sixties -- a dream of change, a sense of limitless possibility -- only to find the Seventies enveloping the city like a pea-souper. She likes comedy, books and indexes and really likes comedy book indexes. The Nixon tapes proved an enormous embarrassment to his friends, who knew the recordings would pick up their silent assent to his wild plans, and sow the country with a distrust beyond even the heights of countercultural suspicion. He also has a habit of referencing fictional works as if they offer unassailable authority. Retrieved 4 June Download as PDF Printable version. It looks at the s with the purpose of demonstrating that it was a weird and wild, extremely paranoid decade. However Wheen's central thesis of the seventies as the paranoid decade which in some ways we're still living in is solid and well argued. But Mr. I felt the way the book was set up was frustrating. Only to blunder right back into much the same fiascoes a few decades later, but glass half-full, etc. CF Watkins has pulled off the unique trick of creating an album that is imbued with the warmth of the American South as well as the urban sophistication of New York. Is the world driving you round the bend yet? Related Articles.