Hippie

The book has ZERO on the Jesus Freak Movement, which makes it SORELY lacking in my humble opinion. Disappointed.

This is a great coffee table book, filled with wonderful photographs and art work from the period, but also contains a surprising amount of text.

“Hippie” covers the counterculture movement from 1965 to 1971, spending a lot of time in San Francisco where the hippies dominated, but also visiting the equivalent scenes in Los Angeles, New York and London. The book is very much about the culture of the period in terms of music, fashion and lifestyle choices, with the political aspects not being covered as in depth here as elsewhere.

The author is in a good position to write about this era as he was the founder of the Indica bookshop which was at the forefront the London scene. He actually pops up in the book once or twice, where he refers to himself in the third person, which seemed a bit odd. Despite his connections, this book is far being a rose-tinted trip down memory lane with a description of the later Haight-Ashbury scene being particularly disturbing. He is also very realistic about the limitations of the hippie ideals, how short-lived its heyday was and about its long-term impact.

“Hippie” is very much an overview of the movement and at times I would have liked more detail, but it provides a good introduction to the subject. It is also a book that can be dipped into and returned to again on account of the great pictures. ( )

The photographs in this great coffee table book make the book wonderful as it is, but the description of hippie culture from 1963-1970s is incredibly informative. Detailing everything from the musicians, writers, and political figureheads that led the hippie revolution, to the fashions and songs that defined the decade. ( )