Paperback: White Heat, by Dominic Sandbrook

Abacus £12.99

Weaving huge detail into an absorbing narrative, Sandbrook tells the story of the Swinging Sixties from the narrow Labour victory of October 1964 (possibly secured because Harold Wilson got the BBC to postpone Steptoe by an hour) to his departure (packed into two Minis) in 1970.

Against a simmering political backdrop, it focuses on British triumphs in pop and football that still resonate. Occasionally, Sandbrook fast-forwards for a retrospective opinion, such as Keith Richards's sour view of the film Performance: "Probably the best work that Donald Cammell ever did, except for shooting himself."