20 books that defined the 1960s

If the Fifties were in black and white, the Sixties burst into colour – one of the most tumultuous, subversive and revolutionary decades of the 20th century. It was the decade of the pill, Black Power, the Stonewall riots, Vietnam, and Flower Power. It was the decade The Beatles got bigger than Jesus.

It was also the decade that launched second wave feminism, and the decade “pro-choice” found a voice. It was the decade that the “Silent Generation” gave way to the “Baby Boomer Generation” who unleashed a tidal wave of rebellion, self-confidence, and experimentation. It was a decade defined by a spate of major political assassinations, mass protests and (sometimes) bloody riots.

All of which is to say, the Sixties were a momentous, fascinating decade of massive social change. And, as usual, there was no shortage of writers with their typewriters at the ready, on hand to record it all. Or, in some cases, to change the world themselves.

Here – from Betty Friedan to Malcolm X, Anthony Burgess to Roald Dahl – are twenty books that helped shape the 1960s.