The Great British Dream Factory

''Delightfully good ... an exuberant and learned celebration of British culture ... full of love for and fascination with everything from the origins of heavy metal in the metal-bashing industries of the West Midlands to John Lennon''s and Damien Hirst''s lust for money'' Nick Cohen, Observer

''Terrific ... I defy you not to be swept up in a narrative that''s as colourful as it is dramatic'' - John Preston, Mail on Sunday

''Dramatic, perceptive and often extremely funny'' Spectator, Books of the Year

Britain''s empire has gone. We no longer matter as we once did. And yet there is still one area in which we can legitimately claim superpower status: our popular culture.

It is extraordinary to think that one British writer, J. K. Rowling, has sold more than 400 million books; that Doctor Who is watched in almost every developed country in the world; that James Bond has been the central character in the longes