ABSTRACT
Britain during the 1970s saw the publication of a spate of cheap, lurid novels based around the sensationalised portrayal of subcultural groups such as skinheads and motorcycle gangs. Publisher New English Library led the field, with books such as ‘Skinhead’ and ‘Suedehead’, and this article analyses such books in relation to their social, economic and political context. Focusing on the novels’ narratives and representations, it argues that the genre was constituent in broader media constructions of 1970s Britain as being beset by a social and political ‘crisis’. The article concludes by considering the books’ appeal. The genre, it is argued, was rooted in traditions of ‘exploitation’ fiction characterised by open-ended ambivalence. As such, the novels could be understood in a variety of ways. Their worldview was often authoritarian and chauvinistic, but their emphasis on defiant rebellion also gave the books significant cachet among the subcultures they represented.
