“The London Boys” is a penetratingly thorough history of the deep but often turbulent friendship/rivalry between the nascent rock stars David Bowie and Marc Bolan, from their early years to their eventual first flush of fame. The introduction sets the scene with a depiction of the historic yet chaotic reconciliation of Bowie and Bolan on the latter’s TV show “Marc”, mere days before his death. The book evokes the shattered post-WWII London landscape that both Bolan and Bowie grew up in through vivid descriptions, and explores how the city and its rapid cultural development in the ‘60s shaped their future careers.
On the whole, “The London Boys” is a very detailed and workmanlike biography of both legends, but also a deep and intoxicating (it may even be eye-opening to a millennial reader) social history of Britain and its cultural heritage and development, hugely influenced by American music. There are also some very entertaining footnotes in which many myths are busted. Special mention must be given to chapter nineteen which has a unique structure that got made this old Bowie fan giddily excited, but you’ll have to read it yourself to find out why.
A dense, deep book but immensely scholarly and readable, with an uplifting ending (really, “the beginning”) “The London Boys” is an original, fabulous and moving, even slightly irreverent, addition to the written history of both artists, both of whom burst from the page so vividly that we get to know them better than ever.

I really liked this one. I can never know too much about Marc Bolan and this is a great look at him. It covers the world that made Marc and Bowie possible and how the opened the door to the things that came next.

It’s a British musician bio, so it obligatorily covered WWII, because no musician from that time wasn’t somehow impacted by it. This wasn’t as in depth on that and that was perfect. It’s always part of the story, but I loved that it wasn’t the whole story.

This is really well written and although at times, it seems a little dismissive of Bolan and over impressed by Bowie, that’s probably just the nature of people in general. Bowie lovers will love this, Bolan lovers will love this, and music history freaks will love this.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me get my Marc Bolan on!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Pen & Sword and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

If you like music and the history of this one will satisfy your needs.

This is a detailed analysis of a time and place just as much as it is a biography of two rock stars. The author paints a picture of post war London and the emergence of teen culture with intelligence and careful analysis. Not just for fans, this is a social history likely to be of wider interest to many readers.