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Ban This Filth! Ben Thompson (Music Critic)

Ban This Filth! By Ben  Thompson (Music Critic)

Ban This Filth! by Ben Thompson (Music Critic)


$10.00
Condition - Very Good
7 in stock

Summary

Caricatured while she lived as a figure of middle-brow reaction, Mary Whitehouse was held in contempt by the country's intellectual elite. But were some of the dangers she warned of more real than they imagined? The author's selection of material from her extraordinary archive shows Mary Whitehouse's legacy in a new light.

Ban This Filth! Summary

Ban This Filth!: Letters From the Mary Whitehouse Archive by Ben Thompson (Music Critic)

In 1964, Mary Whitehouse launched a campaign to fight what she called the 'propaganda of disbelief, doubt and dirt' being poured into homes through the nation's radio and television sets. Whitehouse, senior mistress at a Shropshire secondary school, became the unlikely figurehead of a mass movement for censorship: the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, now Mediawatch-uk. For almost forty years, she kept up the fight against the programme makers, politicians, pop stars and playwrights who she felt were dragging British culture into a sewer of blasphemy and obscenity. From Doctor Who ('Teatime brutality for tots') to Dennis Potter (whose mother sued her for libel and won) to the Beatles - whose Magical Mystery Tour escaped her intervention by the skin of its psychedelic teeth - the list of Mary Whitehouse's targets will read to some like a nostalgic roll of honour. Caricatured while she lived as a figure of middle-brow reaction, Mary Whitehouse was held in contempt by the country's intellectual elite. But were some of the dangers she warned of more real than they imagined? Ben Thompson's selection of material from her extraordinary archive shows Mary Whitehouse's legacy in a startling new light. From her exquisitely testy exchanges with successive BBC Directors General, to the anguished screeds penned by her television and radio vigilantes, these letters reveal a complex and combative individual, whose anxieties about culture and morality are often eerily relevant to the age of the internet. 'A fantastic read . . . I can't recommend it highly enough.' Lauren Laverne, BBC Radio 6 Music

About Ben Thompson (Music Critic)

Ben Thompson is one of Britain's most respected cultural critics. He currently contributes to the Financial Times, Mojo and the Sunday Telegraph. As well as two critically acclaimed collections of rock journalism (Seven Years of Plenty and Ways of Hearing) and a landmark history of modern British comedy (Sunshine on Putty), he has co-written memoirs with Vic Reeves (Me Moir), Phil Daniels (Class Actor), Mike Skinner (The Story of the Streets), Dizzee Rascal (The Dirtee Truth), and others who would prefer the collaborative nature of their bestselling autobiographical endeavours to remain a private matter.

Additional information

GOR005208084
9780571281510
0571281516
Ban This Filth!: Letters From the Mary Whitehouse Archive by Ben Thompson (Music Critic)
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Faber & Faber
2013-09-05
416
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

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