Hippie

Hippie? The title should be "Sex, Drugs, Rock'n Roll, and Political Protests". The pictures presume any shirtless guy at a rock concert in the 60s with a headband was a hippie. Most of the pictures of "hippies" in this book look like college kids looking for free sex and drugs on Spring break or their weekends off. The book gives little coverage to the real counter culture pioneers, who are passed over briefly with a sentence or two, mentioning their exodus to the countryside, when the runaways and junkies took over the scene on The Haight.How can the author give so much coverage to the school bus journeys of the Pranksters and Wavy, and omit The Caravan, 50 school buses departing San Fran in 1970, led by Stephen Gaskin, once called San Francisco's acid guru? I kept reading the book thinking it would eventually get to the time when a major part of the counter culture movement took off for the hills of Northern Calf, Oregon, New Mexico, and even as far East as Tennessee, in the "Back to the Land" movement. But instead, the later chapters we get Alice Cooper(hippie? really?), and Woodstock 1999(hippies?), and the pop culture that followed the 60s.Hardly a mention of The Whole Earth Catalog, or Mother Earth News. Or the 1000's of college students across America in the late 60s, who were turning on, tuning in, and dropping out, starting health food stores, food co-opts, book stores, and moving to the countryside surrounding almost every University college town in America. Starting up homesteads, farming communes and communities. This book mostly looks at the 60s as a music, fashion, or political statement. It was much more than that, as CSNY sung in Wooden Ships:"Take a sister by the hand,Lead her from this barren land,we are leaving, You don't need us"I was going to give this book 3 stars for its nice pictures of the 60s bands and concert posters, but after reading the back page liner notes that give author credit for being a central figure in the development of the hippie movement(??!!), I subtracted a star. He might have had contact and experience with music and writing in England in the 60s, but I think he missed on a lot of what the counter-culture in the 60s was about, and what became of a lot of it in America.

I loved Barry Miles book HIPPIE. It's an overstuffed, medium sized paperback that covers the time period starting in 1965 and ending in 1971.Each year is a chapter, and full of pictures and info that highlight the events; just enough to whet the appetite but not enough to become overwhelming or tedious. In fact it leaves you longing for more.Miles give you a taste of all the incredible events that have since become synonymous with the counter-culture of the 60s like: the Diggers, Haight Ashbury, The Human Be-In, the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Vietnam, LSD, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Woodstock, Altamont, the Acid tests and the Merry Pranksters, and so much more!There are pictures on every page showing the scene, album covers, the music posters and the people and places that drove the hippie movement. I cannot express how much I enjoyed this book.There are a couple of small issues that I have with HIPPIE. One was the type size...I found the type a little small and it took my eyes awhile to get used to it, but they adjusted. Also, like I said, Miles just gives you enough information about the people, places, and events to give you a general idea of what was going on during that time so it does leave you wanting to know more. Of course, since there was so much going on in each of the years from 1965-1971 it would've been impossible to go into great detail about the events and people without having the book become too large. (For more in-depth look at the Haight-Ashbury scene in San Francisco check out  The Haight-Ashbury: A History )But it was informative and most importantly ENTERTAINING to read. I recommend this book to anyone who lived through the 60s or wished they did.

Gave as a gift for a relative from San Francisco. It's the 50th anniversary of the "Summer of Love" and after visiting I sent this book. It was a big hit. They're still looking through it and reminiscing. They're having lots of fun with it. Came in decent condition as described

This is an excellent book. I have always enjoyed books in which you can put down, then start back up on any given page, and feel like you havent missed anything - this is because of the format in which it is written. A certain illustration will then be followed by a 2 to 3 page narrative. Even the softcover book has thick, high quality materials. As a true student to this era in American history, may thanks to the author for taking the time to pruduce such a high quality "time capsule in a book". Damian from Phoenix

I just received this book yesterday and was very surprised to see the quality of book I got for such a low price.The pictures are amazing and from what I have read so far, (which isnt much yet)is quite informational. I love the layout, text mixed with images. I am obsessed with hippie culture so this book is great for someone like me.I guess if I had one complaint, it would be that the text is quite small but isnt that big of a deal I guess..just a personal preference. I prefer larger print.I would recommend this book!

This book shows a good history of the hippie culture and the basic history of the 1960s and a bit of the 1970s. With lots of photos including Woodstock.

This book explains in great detail the counter culture and the awesome events of the late 60s! A must have for any hippie.

If you are a teenager in the 60's and a music fan, you will love this book! It chronicles that wonderful and unique hippie movement with fabulous photos and descriptions and pulls you back in. An amazing time in our history and an amazing book to give you a snapshot of what it was like if you weren't there.

Great book, good writer who was there

Bought as a present for someone so haven't read it. It looked interesting though

Superb illustrated book!

Beautiful Thank You

This is probably the best book you can get on this topic. A lot of brilliant photos, capturing the 'zeitgeist' and a very informative text, too. It doesn't focus (like 'Summer of Love') on one or two years, but on the whole 'hippie era'.