John Higgs – författare

'The best non-fiction book I've ever read. It's magical. Stunning' Dan Schreiber, No Such Thing As a Fish'A pop biography for people who don't read pop biographies' Dorian Lynskey, Guardian'Brilliant, discursive and wise' Ben Goldacre'Utterly irresistible and totally brilliant' The Quietus'A thing of endlessly fascinating, utterly demented genius' Alexis PetridisThey were the bestselling singles band in the world. They had awards, credibility, commercial success and creative freedom. Then they deleted their records, erased themselves from musical history and burnt their last million pounds in a boathouse on the Isle of Jura. And they couldn't say why.This is not just the story of The KLF. It is a book about Carl Jung, Alan Moore, Robert Anton Wilson, Ken Campbell, Dada, Situationism, Discordianism, magic, chaos, punk, rave, the alchemical symbolism of Doctor Who and the special power of the number twenty-three. Wildly unauthorised and unlike any other music biography, THE KLF is a trawl through chaos on the trail of a beautiful, accidental mythology.10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION UPDATED WITH NEW MATERIAL

'The best non-fiction book I've ever read. It's magical. Stunning' Dan Schreiber, No Such Thing As a Fish'A pop biography for people who don't read pop biographies' Dorian Lynskey, Guardian'Brilliant, discursive and wise' Ben Goldacre'Utterly irresistible and totally brilliant' The Quietus'A thing of endlessly fascinating, utterly demented genius' Alexis PetridisThey were the bestselling singles band in the world. They had awards, credibility, commercial success and creative freedom. Then they deleted their records, erased themselves from musical history and burnt their last million pounds in a boathouse on the Isle of Jura. And they couldn't say why.This is not just the story of The KLF. It is a book about Carl Jung, Alan Moore, Robert Anton Wilson, Ken Campbell, Dada, Situationism, Discordianism, magic, chaos, punk, rave, the alchemical symbolism of Doctor Who and the special power of the number twenty-three. Wildly unauthorised and unlike any other music biography, THE KLF is a trawl through chaos on the trail of a beautiful, accidental mythology.10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION UPDATED WITH NEW MATERIAL

'An illuminating work of massive insight' Alan Moore'A sensational book. Heartily recommended' Rufus HoundIt is the century about which we know too much, yet understand too little. With disorientating ideas such as relativity, cubism, the id, existentialism, chaos mathematics and postmodernism to contend with, the twentieth century, John Higgs argues, cannot fit easily into a traditional historical narrative. Time, then, for a new perspective. Higgs takes us on a refreshingly eclectic journey through the knotty history of the strangest of centuries. In the company of radical artists, scientists, geniuses and eccentrics, he shows us how the elegant, clockwork universe of the Victorians became increasingly woozy and uncertain; and how in the twentieth century we discovered that our world is not just stranger than we imagine, but 'stranger than we can imagine'.

'Smart, analytical and enormously good fun' Stuart Maconie, Mail on Sunday'Ingenious . . . conjures a whole cultural history of the past six decades' The Spectator'Strikingly insightful . . . page after page of glorious anecdotes' The i Newspaper'A book to leave you shaken and stirred' Independent'Poignant and entertaining' Observer'If you take popular culture seriously, this is the book for you' Jeremy DellerDr No, the first Bond film, and 'Love Me Do', the first Beatles record, were released on the same day. Most countries can only dream of creating a phenomenon on this scale; Britain produced two on one windy October afternoon. Told over sixty dramatic years, Love and Let Die is the story of two culture touchstones that continue to define our aspirations and fantasies; of opposing values, visions of Britain and ideas about male identity; and of how a clash between working class liberation and establishment control exploded on the global stage.

'A TARDIS of a book. On the outside it's about a TV show, but open it up and the whole space-time continuum is inside' FRANK COTTRELL-BOYCE'Wonderful' ROBIN INCE'The book I've been waiting to read since I was ten years old' JEREMY DYSONFrom the author of cult classics THE KLF and WILLIAM BLAKE VS THE WORLD, this is the stranger than fiction story of TV's favourite time travellerOn screen, Doctor Who is a story of monsters, imagination and mind-expanding adventure. But the off-screen story is equally extraordinary - a tale of failed monks, war heroes, 1960s polyamory and self-sabotaging broadcasting executives. From the politics of fandom to the inner struggles of the BBC, thousands of people have given part of themselves - and sometimes, too much of themselves - to bring this unlikeliest of folk heroes to life.This is a story of change, mystery and the importance of imaginary characters in our lives. Able to evolve and adapt more radically than any other fiction, Doctor Who has acted as a mirror to more than six decades of social, technological and cultural change while always remaining a central fixture of the British imagination. In Exterminate / Regenerate, John Higgs invites us into his TARDIS on a journey to discover how ideas emerge and survive despite the odds, why we are so addicted to fiction, and why this wonderful wandering time traveller means so much to so many.

'Captures much of the warmth, wit and worthiness of this thoroughly British institution' THE TIMES'Crammed with fascinating nuggets' INDEPENDENT, Biography of the Month'Absolutely wonderful. The book I've been waiting to read since I was ten years old' JEREMY DYSONWith its unique ability to evolve and adapt more radically than any other fiction, Doctor Who has acted as a mirror to more than six decades of social, technological and cultural change. In the first biography of this central fixture of the British imagination, John Higgs invites us into the Doctor's TARDIS on a journey to discover how ideas emerge and survive despite the odds, how failed monks and war heroes created one of the most successful TV shows in history and why this wonderful wandering time traveller means so much to so many.'A TARDIS of a book . . . the whole space-time continuum is inside' FRANK COTTRELL BOYCE'Wonderful! You don't need to be a Whovian to delight at John Higgs's journey through Doctor Who, but you may well be one by the end of the book' ROBIN INCE

'What is it about David Lynch's cinematic bag of tricks - his shots of shadows and flickering electricity, his sinister soundscapes and his heartfelt scores, his dreamlike irrational stories - that affects us so deeply? How can he present us with trees swaying in the wind, or a character suddenly becoming another person, or more questions than answers, and it stays with us forever? And why is it that, when somebody else uses his tricks, it does not achieve the same results?'The loss of David Lynch in January 2025 produced an extraordinary outpouring of love and grief that revealed how deeply he mattered. But the strength and size of this reaction came as a surprise to many. In life, Lynch was a wilfully obtuse cult filmmaker who had been unable to get a film financed for the last two decades of his life. In death, both the man himself and his work are unquestionably in the pantheon of all-time greats.He leaves behind an adjective, 'Lynchian', a term used to describe work that echoes his. And yet, only Lynch could be truly Lynchian, and those who copy him fail to have an impact. So why does his work affect people so deeply? Why do some find it haunting and unforgettable while others dismiss it as meaningless? Answering that question takes us into the strange realms of psychology, art and theology. We will discover why ambiguity and mystery are so seductive, how Lynch's creative and meditative practices overlapped and why a director whose work contains so much abuse of women has such a female-skewing fanbase.Through a personal, first-person lens, Lynchian unpacks the mystery but refuses to solve the enigma of an artist whose work reshaped cinema from the inside out - where story gives way to dreams, and meaning lies not in answers, but in experience.'A while ago I decided to read anything Higgs writes. He seems to be able to take any subject and poke at it until it yields up its secrets' FRANK COTTRELL BOYCE'Reading John Higgs is like being shot with a diamond. Suddenly everything becomes terrifyingly clear' MOJO'Higgs's prose has a diamond-hard quality. He knows how to make us relate' THE TIMES

A journey along one of Britain's oldest roads, from Dover to Anglesey, in search of the hidden history that makes us who we are today.'A bravura piece of writing - Bill Bryson on acid' Tom HollandWinding its way from the White Cliffs of Dover to the Druid groves of Anglesey, the ancient road of Watling Street has gone by many different names. It is a road of witches and ghosts, of queens and highwaymen, of history and myth, of Bletchley Park codebreakers, Chaucer, Boudicca, Dickens and James Bond. But Watling Street is not just the story of a route across our island. It is an acutely observed exploration of Britain and who we are today, told with wit and an unerring eye for the curious and surprising.

When we look into the future, we imagine economic collapse, environmental disaster and the zombie apocalypse. But what if we are wrong? John Higgs takes us on a journey past the technological hype and headlines to discover why we shouldn't trust the predictions of science fiction, why nature is not as helpless as we assume and why purpose can never be automated. In the process, we will come to a better understanding of what lies ahead and how, despite everything we can build a better future.

'If a thing loves, it is infinite' William BlakeA short, impassioned argument for why the visionary artist William Blake is important in the twenty-first centuryThe visionary poet and painter William Blake is a constant presence throughout contemporary culture - from videogames to novels, from sporting events to political rallies and from horror films to designer fashion. Although he died nearly 200 years ago, something about his work continues to haunt the twenty-first century. What is it about Blake that has so endured? In this illuminating essay, John Higgs takes us on a whirlwind tour to prove that far from being the mere New Age counterculture figure that many assume him to be, Blake is now more relevant than ever.

'Fascinating' The Times'Blakeian in its singularity' New Statesman'A wonderful adventure' Irish Times'Rich, complex and original' Tom Holland'A crisp, ambitious and thoroughly contemporary introduction' Times Literary SupplementPoet, artist, visionary and author of the unofficial English national anthem 'Jerusalem', William Blake is an archetypal misunderstood genius. In this radical new biography, we return to a world of riots, revolutions and radicals, discuss movements from the Levellers of the sixteenth century to the psychedelic counterculture of the 1960s, and explore the latest discoveries in neurobiology, quantum physics and comparative religion to look afresh at Blake's life and work - and, crucially, his mind. Taking the reader on wild detours into unfamiliar territory, John Higgs places the bewildering eccentricities of a most singular artist into context and shows us how Blake can help us better understand ourselves.

The brilliant first biography of the man President Nixon called 'the most dangerous man in America'.Timothy Leary was one of the most controversial and divisive figures of the twentieth century. President Nixon called him 'the most dangerous man in America.' Hunter S. Thompson said that he was 'not just wrong, but a treacherous creep and a horrible goddamn person.' Yet the writer Terence McKenna claims that he 'probably made more people happy than anyone else in history.’A brilliant Harvard psychologist, Leary was sacked because of his research into LSD and other psychedelic drugs. He went on to become the global figurehead of the 1960s drug culture, coin the phrase ‘tune in, turn on and drop out’, and persuade millions of people to take drugs and explore alternativelifestyles yet the tremendous impact of his 'scandalous' research has been so controversial that it has completely overshadowed the man himself and the details of his life. Few people realise that Timothy Leary's life is one of the greatest untold adventure stories of the twentieth century.Timothy Leary led a life of unflagging optimism and reckless devotion to freedom. It was, in the words of his goddaughter Winona Ryder, ‘not just epic grandeur but flat-out epic grandeur.' Leary's life is undoubtedly one of the greatest untold adventure stories of the twentieth century and this book presents it for the first time in all its uncensored glory.