The great British dream factory: the strange history of our national imagination

Britain's empire has gone. Our manufacturing base is a shadow of its former self; the Royal Navy has been reduced to a skeleton.

In military, diplomatic and economic terms, we no longer matter as we once did. And yet there is still one area in which we can legitimately claim superpower status: our popular culture.

It is extraordinary to think that one British writer, J.K.

Rowling, has sold more than 400 million books; that 'Doctor Who' is watched in almost every developed country in the world; that James Bond has been the central character in the longest-running film series in history; that 'The Lord of the Rings' is the second best-selling novel ever written (behind only 'A Tale of Two Cities'); that the Beatles are still the best-selling musical group of all time.

This is a book about the success and the meaning of Britain's modern popular culture, from Bond and the Beatles to heavy metal and Coronation Street.