This controversial book is a gem: you'll rediscover the people that made the 20th century in a way you never expected to see them! The illustrations by Guy Peellaert ar truly fabulous and the texts by english writer Nik Cohn match perfectly with them. A must-have!

I agree with everyone: this si a truly smart book filled with unexpected and intriguing images. I thought Rock Dreams would remain Guy Peellaert's one masterpiece, but this one is for me even better because it doesn't just deal with the history of Rock, but with the history of the whole century. The 20th century has been the wildest, craziest one ever aand the artist knew how to capture the eseence of the great people of our time!Good job!

Even though I think a few people are missing, I really enjoyed watching this phantasmagorical world of famous faces put together in a completely fictional way.I guess it's taken the artist many years of work to achieve something like that.There are about 80 pictures and not one seems to have been neglected! I didn't know the artist Guy Peellaert until I saw the article in Vanity Fair and I must say that his work fascinates me.

"Rock Dreams" perfectly captures the synapses between fantasy and reality that give R&R its emotional appeal. It is a tribute to the overwhelming power of the music that two non-Americans have so perfectly, obsessively captured the quintessence of R&R and its pull on American and British hearts and minds. Peelaert brilliantly juxtaposes American and British images--for example, putting Gene Vincent in a "teddy boy" bar. In other parts, he uncannily captures American iconography--the teenager's bedroom that accompanies the image of Fabian is absolutely, perfectly 1959. These are just a few examples; the book abounds in others, using contemporary images and photos in creative, dream/reality settings, often with stunning details. Nik Cohn's text is just the right accompaniment, an admixture of fact, supposition and poetry. Unforgettable.

This is wonderful. The illustrations and the captions complement each other so well. I loved the depiction of Dylan. Best of all is the description of the brilliant Del Shannon: 'Del Shannon may have looked and sounded like a lumberjack but he cracked like a sodajerk. He was incessantly on thr run, broke and alone and his trueloves all betrayed him. In the naked city there was an eternal thunderstorm and his teardrops mingled with the rain.' Wonderful!

I found this book in my father's collection back in the 70's before I was even a teenager. Each Icon of rock, soul, pop, country from the 50s to the early 70s is painted perfectly by Guy Peellaert inhabiting their own imaginary world. Such as The Beach Boys on the beach, the Drifters under the boardwalk, Otis, sitting at the dock of the bay, The Beatles being chased down Liverpool backstreets. Nik Cohn adds succint passages that captures the essence of our early rock heroes. Pouring over this book as a kid, kick started a life long love of rock 'n' roll. From Elvis to Oasis it all makes sense now, having attended the Peellaert and Cohn college of rock dreams. Highly recommended for all music and art lovers.

I just read a recent review of this book which was very negative. The critic didn't like the young Nik Cohn's opinions. Well, I am 60 years old and was there at the dawn of rock 'n roll and loved this book. I was pleasantly surprised that a 22 year old Brit back in 1968 could have captured the essence of the fifties music scene and also described in detail what happened soon thereafter. In fact, I agreed with most of his very descriptive analyses and even when I didn't, I understood his point of view. His knowledge on the topic and style of writing was superb.

Not really a travel book, like the rest of the Vintage Departures line, but an examination of another culture just the same. Bradshaw profiles six men with something in common--they are all hustlers, that is, gamblers who make a living by their wits. The range here is great, including the tennis player Bobby Riggs and backgammon great Tim Holland, as well as more "traditional" gamblers Minnesota Fats (pool), Pug Pearson and Johnny Moss (poker), and Titantic Thompson (proposition). But these were just what these men were best at--they all exceeded at almost every game they undertook, golf being an extremely common one for each. Bradshaw was a gifted writer. His style makes this book difficult to place down; the subject makes it nigh impossible.

Gotta say that my high hopes for this book sank further and further with every chapter I read. Rather than present the "Adventures in the Other England" that the subtitle promises, Cohn instead gives the reader transcriptions of conversation after conversation. Yes, he does have a knack for finding interesting people to talk to, but once he's done that, he seems content to record what they say and leave it at that. One thing he does try to stress is what a melting pot England has become since WWII and what a diverse array of lifestyles it now hosts. But unless you're completely unaware and still think Britain is nothing more than a country of cozy tea rooms and ye olde tradition, none of this is news. A far more enlightening (and depressing) book on the state of modern Britain is Nick Danziger's travelogue "Danziger's Britain."

I'm not sure how successful Cohn is at describing the 'real' England. The motley cast of characters he 'happens' upon are just as unrepresentative of England as Dick Van Dyke's chimney sweep. But I guess a series of interviews with the real population of England - like anywhere else in the west: a collection of fairly nice but dull suburbanites - would not have made for a gripping read. And this is a gripping read - one of those books I couldn't put down.

But I am suspicious of the provenance of much of the text. I get the feeling that much of what people say in the book seem to be things Cohn would have liked them to say rather than the actual verbatium 'truth'. Fair enough I supose.

(By way of example, I come from Derry and I know for a fact no one but an imaginative journalist like Cohn could describe it in romantic terms!!)

A very great book indeed- and you would expect nothing else from such a sharp and gifted observer and writer as Nik Cohn. I know England very well ( lived there all my 50 years) and I have lived in most of the places he describes -London,Blackpool,Manchester,Liverpool. He is spot on. He is a great writer ; sympathetic, funny,understated,pithy and not fooled for a minute by Blair and his ilk. England has been in decline for a long time - it is now closer to being a fascist state than many Continental countries that the English like to look down on..

The Heart of the World is writing in search of a book. And it never comes together. Furthermore, most of characters and anecdotes seem totally fictional (there's really no way of verifying anything), although this is supposed to be nonfiction. Nik Cohn may be a gifted writer, but this so-called book is a disaster.

Everybody has a sad story, and it seems like Nik Cohn went and found them all. This book does the unique...it puts a name and a story with each of those faces you see on your way to work. There's Sasha Zim...who in a few statements sums up the feeling of the book...New York is a hellpit, but it's my hellpit. Not a happy book in the traditional sense, going into it with the wrong mindframe might leave you in a somewhat sour mood. At times dour, at times saddening, at times depressing--you know that these are real people. Cohn brings out the best in these people. Combined with an awesome ability to paint an image, Cohn characterizes each person to the point that they couldn't have told the story better themselves. The characterizations, though, are at times a little too perfect...mostly good, I did roll my eyes a couple of times. Cohn packs as much meaning into a phrase as is humanly possible. I've not read a person who can turn a phrase like Mr. Cohn. However, it is NOT a quick read. Set aside a long period of time...read it in little bits and digest it. The scope of the tale, like its subject, is just too broad to consume in one sitting.