Bomb Culture: 50th Anniversary Edition

'Bomb Culture' , published 1968, seems no longer read. Jeff Nuttall ( 1933-2004) maintained that his generation of young people were the first of their kind ; they were aware that with the rise of nuclear weapons the whole of humanity could be destroyed. Moreover, with the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, the generation above them had lost the moral authority to govern. ( I understand that the concept of the bomb culture was inspired by the writing of Norman Mailer. )The idea of the 'bomb culture' is one of instinctive rebellion, strangely creative and destructive. It is not surprising to see Dada influences. Nuttall casts himself as a follower of William Burroughs. But takes in 1950's juvenile delinquency, Rock n Roll, Teds, modern Jazz artists such as Charlie Parker, Rockers of the motorcycle variety, , Allen Ginsberg, CND particular the more radical wing, British beats such as Alex Trochi, towards the end R D Laing and the 'anti-psychiatry ' movement appear. There's a great emphasis on 'happenings' , underground magazines, outrageous art exhibitions . Obviously psychedelia is starting to creep in though one feels that Jeff Nuttall was too much of a Rocker to be won over by the Flower Children. He was also canny enough to realise that 'dropping out' usually meant living on 'straight' society's material excesses,. Jeff Nuttall may simply have over emphasised the importance of this 'underground' counter culture and the fact that 'Bomb Culture' was out of print for decades arguably showed its lack of wider relevance. But for all its indulgences and contradiction, I am glad that 'Bomb Culture' is back