Boot Boys: Bent on senseless violence on the street and in the soccer stadium, the boot boys need to take only one small step into total evil-Devil worship: “Vanessa stood stiffly erect on top of her fornicating altar. She watched Tom weave round tombstones, wine held against his naked chest. She raised her arms—a white sylph coated with dried sweat and earth’s smudges. ‘The Master cometh …’”
Smoothies: Skinhead descendants the smoothies get involved with mayhem in general and some anti-immigrant violence in particular: “Not far from Arlingham the government had set up a temporary camp to handle the influx of Ugandan Asians. Contrary to the sincere hopes of those do-gooders and Church organizations full of the joys of humanitarianism, the ordinary people of Arlingham objected. Strongly.”
Terrace Terrors: Reformed skinheads are deployed against soccer violence: “‘Roger Cochrane, the Chelterton chairman, is a personal friend of mine. He wants to make sure his club does not get a reputation for attracting young louts. The signs during their promotion run were that unsavory elements had started attending the home games. We—Cooper and Greer—have been invited to suggest a method of policing the terraces …’ Steve couldn’t help it. He whistled in astonishment.” NN

Publisher: S.T.
Paperback: 288 pages

Skinhead: Introduces Joe Hawkins, Allen’s most famous character. Joe—coal seller and skinhead—earns a little extra money by shaking down his clients, and is not beyond accepting a sexual favor or two from the women on his route. But what he really likes to do is fight, and with a wide range of his traditional enemies—Hell’s Angels, Chelsea fans, hippies, the fuzz, immigrants and other skinheads—lurking around every corner, he has ever-increasing chances to indulge himself. As more and more are bloodied by his boot and fist, it looks like the police are powerless to stop him.
Suedehead: Joe’s back from prison, and if his haircut’s changed, his attitude hasn’t. Determined to succeed in the world of the city-slicker, Joe soon finds violent use for the businessman’s umbrella. Joe might have cleaned up his act but not his appetite for sexual carnage and violent mayhem.
Skinhead Escapes: When Hawkins invites himself along on another prisoner’s escape, he makes enemies on both sides of the law. On the run, he still has time to indulge in his twisted passion for birds, booze and bovver. And when he kills a policeman, every cop in the country is after him. NN

Publisher: S.T.
Paperback: 288 pages

Trouble for Skinhead: überskin Joe Hawkins is off the street and inside Britain’s toughest prison. Time to utilize his special skills.
Skinhead Farewell: Joe Hawkins is in Australia searching for his nemesis, enduring dodgy Australian skinheads and learning to loathe antipodean natural splendor: “Strange shapes fetched up ghostly, childhood fears against a weak-mooned desert horizon. Typical Outback shapes. Fantastic. Non-English frighteners… The unknown quantities out there—beyond the fire’s flickering fingertips. Weird animals. Snakes. Spiders. Crawlies of every description. Horrible things.”
Top Gear Skin: Skinheads apply their code of conduct to the sport of stockcar racing. NN

Publisher: S.T.
Paperback: 288 pages

Skinhead Girls: Joan’s skinhead past is calling her back. Though married she still relishes the prospect of sex, violence and house parties.
Sorts: Terry runs away from home and is caught up in the sordid world of dope-smoking folk musicians. Soon she’s up against folkies who kill for thrills!
Knuckle Girls: Ina Murray’s Scottish heritage gives her an edge in a street brawl. And whether they’re soccer hooligans, coppers or evil social workers, she’s not taking shit from anybody. NN

Publisher: S.T.
Paperback: 288 pages

One of the more intelligently written and well-researched books on what the author calls “the greatest of all youth cults.” The fellow responsible, George Marshall, is an almost unbelievable dichotomy: an articulate and readable writer with unassailable street-level skin credibility. An ex-skinhead himself, Marshall spent six years as editor and publisher of a small tabloid-style paper called Skinhead Times, but is best known as the author of Spirit of ‘69: A Skinhead Bible. In Skinhead Nation, he presents as objective an overview as possible of this much- maligned and generally baffling phenomenon, informative and entertaining for the most clueless outsider and the hardest-core skinhead alike. The unbiased attitude toward the mind-boggling array of often diametrically opposed factions and the coverage of a good assortment of “scenes” from all over the world set this book apart from most other works on the subject.
The problem of “skinhead reality vs. media perception” is a constant theme, so much so that if you took out all the copy spent addressing this particular issue, this book would be a leaflet. Still, the way Marshall manages to say “Skinheads aren’t by nature political, but have political beliefs like anyone else,” and “Sure, there are Nazis, but there’s 2 Tone, SHARP, black, asian, and hispanic Skinheads, too” in almost every paragraph without ever actually repeating himself verbatim is an incredible, almost gymnastic, literary achievement worthy of a Nobel Prize, or at least a free pint of ale. Illustrated with a whole bunch of appropriately 2 Tone (oh, all right, black and white) photos, Skinhead Nation helps shed some much-needed light on this little-understood topic. So why am I still so mystified about what would drive a person to actually become a Skinhead? Or, for that matter, a Deadhead, Preppy, born again Christian … DB

Publisher: S.T.
Paperback: 156 pages
Illustrated

Seemingly having peaked in the late ‘80s, when the velcro-heads were a favorite subject of tabloid TV, skins are today an established part of American youth culture, still often associated with white power, and neo-Nazi hate groups.
The author traces the development of the skinhead phenomenon back to its English roots and examines how this quintessentially British youth cult crossed the Atlantic and how the cult has developed in ways unique to the United States. Using a wide range of sources, the author takes a critical look at previous studies of skinheads and adds the often amusingly distant perspective of an academic. NN

Publisher: Bowling Green
Paperback: 200 pages
Illustrated

The first photo book to capture the spirit of the skinhead cult. Taken by a skinhead who went on to become a professional photographer, these are largely culled from the glory days of 2 Tone and Oi!. AK

Publisher: S.T.
Paperback: 144 pages
Illustrated

The definitive book on the British skinhead phenomenon. From the late ‘60s to the present, this book gives it straight: style, music, football, aggro, from SHARP to the scourge of the neo-Nazis. A wealth of photographs, graphics and cuttings makes this an indispensable guide. AK

Publisher: S.T.
Paperback: 176 pages
Illustrated