The early to mid-1960s was when youth ran wild for the first time. Unlike their Teddy Boy predecessors, those in their teens openly defied society's rules. School-boys, school-leavers, mere kids, took to wearing brightly-coloured clothes. In direct contrast to the white music beloved of the Rockers, these "Mods" - as they were soon labelled by the media - listened to little but the music of their black friends in the clubs of Soho and the basement parties of Brixton. Black and white youngsters mixed freely. This was a period of spontaneous and exuberant rebellion untouched and unadulterated by market forces, which paved the way for a host of less pure and more celebrated cults: hippies, yippies and punks for example. This is an exploration of this little-known period of popular culture, charting the fashions, the music and the ideologies of the time.

The second part of the book is the sequel, Enlightenment and the Death of Michael Mouse, detailing the central character's journey overland from London to the Indian subcontinent, a saga of mysticism, sex, drugs and rock and roll.