John Harris is a bit of an arrogant git with stupid hair and a desperate want to be northern, but that doesn’t stop him delivering a fine catalogue of those hopeful crazy mid 1990s years of British jubilation. Britpop, as it was tagged, was a seismic shock to a stale musical system that was still waiting for the second Stone Roses album. It was also a time when we glorious Brits started booting out the junkie grunge-loving yanks who were hell bent on suicide and Soundgarden. "Here’s Liam Gallagher you McDonalds munching imperialists, stick Eddie Vedder up your self-pitying arse" and the like.

Harris brilliantly (and it pains me to say that) chronicles the years 1993-1997 in detail looking at why the music meant so much more than normal and why Britain suddenly began behaving like it was 1897 again. He goes through all the principal players, starting with Suede, Blur and Elastica moving on to Oasis, Pulp, Sleeper and finally to Radiohead, The Verve and...Menswear? Harris also does a supreme job of tying this new musical movement in with the New Labour political ‘revolution’ at the time. So we get to laugh at Blair trying to pronounce David Bowie’s name at the Brit Awards, be bemused at the thought of Blair at the NME Awards and wince at Damon Albarn’s attempts to become important. It was a time of naivety and when anything really did seem possible. And the naivety bleeds through as Harris goes through the painful downfall of the revolution; Blur’s alt-rock phase, Elastica’s heroin, Jarvis losing it, Brett Anderson on crack, Be Here Now and of course, Travis. It’s all a rather tragic tale of young people having something big in their hands, talking to ‘The Man’, taking lots of drugs and ultimately fucking the whole thing up.

Harris is a fair writer; he’s honest and you end up agreeing with most of the negative comments he makes. The book comes with a selection of interesting photos including some particularly camp Suede shots and lots of Gallagher-related fun. For newcomers, there is even a discography going through Britpop from the 1960s to 1990s, and a reading list. By the time you’ve finished this, you’ll be an expert. So if you’re looking for the definitive account of what was undoubtedly an exciting time to be British then this info-packed, exciting and entrancing book is what you want. I still hate John Harris though.