Dada: The revolt of art By Marc Dachy

Shocking, vital, explosive, Dada is still astonishingly modern. Though it only lasted a decade from 1915, the outpourings of Dada - art, collages, plays - remain the stuff of the avant-garde, from Schwitters's sound poems to Duchamp's urinal. We're still trying to catch up. Dachy's account focuses on the weird characters swept up by Dada - Wilde's nephew Arthur Cravan fought Jack Johnson before disappearing in the Gulf of Mexico - and the passion of the times. A punch-up with the Surrealists during Tzara's play The Gas Heart marked the end of the movement, though not of its influence.