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Peace: 50 Years of Protest
Here is the amazing story of how a sign of protest became the world's greatest symbol for peace, celebrating its 50th birthday in April, 2008. A combination of research and recall highlights the symbol's evolution from 1958 to how it's still in use today.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
First published April 21, 2008
About the author
Barry Miles
77 books153 followersBarry Miles is an English author best known for his deep involvement in the 1960s counterculture and for chronicling the era through his prolific writing. He played a key role in shaping and documenting the London underground scene, becoming a central figure among the poets, musicians, and artists who defined the decade’s rebellious spirit. A close associate of figures such as Allen Ginsberg and Paul McCartney, Miles not only witnessed the cultural revolution firsthand but also actively participated in it through ventures like the Indica Gallery and the alternative newspaper International Times.
In the early 1960s, Miles began working at Better Books in London, a progressive bookshop that became a hub for the avant-garde. While there, he was instrumental in organizing the International Poetry Incarnation at the Royal Albert Hall in 1965, an event that marked the emergence of the British underground movement and featured prominent poets like Allen Ginsberg. The same year, Miles co-founded the Indica Bookshop and Gallery, which became a gathering place for creatives and countercultural icons. It was here that John Lennon first met Yoko Ono, at one of her art exhibitions.
Miles also played a role in launching International Times, one of the UK’s first underground newspapers, which Paul McCartney discreetly funded. Miles introduced McCartney to the people behind the project and facilitated many of his early connections with the underground scene. In 1967, he co-organized The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, a legendary multimedia event at Alexandra Palace featuring Pink Floyd, Yoko Ono, and John Lennon, among others.
Later in the decade, Miles took on the management of Zapple Records, an experimental subsidiary of Apple Records. During this time, he produced poetry albums, including one by Richard Brautigan. However, his personal relationship with Brautigan became strained after Miles became romantically involved with Brautigan’s partner, Valerie Estes. The fallout led to communication only through legal representatives. Although Zapple closed before releasing the Brautigan album, it was eventually issued by another label in 1970.
Miles also produced a recording of Allen Ginsberg’s musical interpretation of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, which was released in 1970. He briefly lived with Ginsberg in New York before returning to England following the breakdown of his first marriage. He later married travel writer Rosemary Bailey and continued to live and work in London.
In addition to his memoirs In the Sixties and In the Seventies, Miles has written definitive biographies of cultural icons such as Paul McCartney (Many Years From Now), Frank Zappa, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, and Allen Ginsberg. He is also the author of Hippie, a visual and narrative exploration of the 1960s counterculture. His writings often reflect a mix of personal experience and historical documentation, offering insight into the worlds of rock, literature, and art.
Miles is known not only for his historical accounts but also for his critical views, including pointed commentary on musicians like Rush and Frank Zappa, examining the political and commercial aspects of their work. With a career that spans over five decades, Barry Miles remains one of the most insightful chroniclers of the countercultural and musical revolutions of the 20th century.
In the early 1960s, Miles began working at Better Books in London, a progressive bookshop that became a hub for the avant-garde. While there, he was instrumental in organizing the International Poetry Incarnation at the Royal Albert Hall in 1965, an event that marked the emergence of the British underground movement and featured prominent poets like Allen Ginsberg. The same year, Miles co-founded the Indica Bookshop and Gallery, which became a gathering place for creatives and countercultural icons. It was here that John Lennon first met Yoko Ono, at one of her art exhibitions.
Miles also played a role in launching International Times, one of the UK’s first underground newspapers, which Paul McCartney discreetly funded. Miles introduced McCartney to the people behind the project and facilitated many of his early connections with the underground scene. In 1967, he co-organized The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, a legendary multimedia event at Alexandra Palace featuring Pink Floyd, Yoko Ono, and John Lennon, among others.
Later in the decade, Miles took on the management of Zapple Records, an experimental subsidiary of Apple Records. During this time, he produced poetry albums, including one by Richard Brautigan. However, his personal relationship with Brautigan became strained after Miles became romantically involved with Brautigan’s partner, Valerie Estes. The fallout led to communication only through legal representatives. Although Zapple closed before releasing the Brautigan album, it was eventually issued by another label in 1970.
Miles also produced a recording of Allen Ginsberg’s musical interpretation of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, which was released in 1970. He briefly lived with Ginsberg in New York before returning to England following the breakdown of his first marriage. He later married travel writer Rosemary Bailey and continued to live and work in London.
In addition to his memoirs In the Sixties and In the Seventies, Miles has written definitive biographies of cultural icons such as Paul McCartney (Many Years From Now), Frank Zappa, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, and Allen Ginsberg. He is also the author of Hippie, a visual and narrative exploration of the 1960s counterculture. His writings often reflect a mix of personal experience and historical documentation, offering insight into the worlds of rock, literature, and art.
Miles is known not only for his historical accounts but also for his critical views, including pointed commentary on musicians like Rush and Frank Zappa, examining the political and commercial aspects of their work. With a career that spans over five decades, Barry Miles remains one of the most insightful chroniclers of the countercultural and musical revolutions of the 20th century.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 5, 2008
Peace: 50 Years of Protest by Barry Miles is a coffee table book well worth reading but best taken in small pieces and read at least twice to take everything in. First time through, just look at the photographs that tell the history of the CND symbol, now known more commonly as the peace symbol. Then go back and read the text. Be prepared to be depressed, disgusted and outraged by the different atrocities mankind has inflicted on itself over the years.
The book makes its way more or less chronologically from the bombings of Japan through the creation of the CND symbol to its evolution into the universal symbol of peace through a foreword, an introduction and eight chapters. The chapters cover the man behind the symbols creation and its various meanings, its use in the cold war, the symbol's coming of age, the Aldermaston March, the world wide adoption of the symbol to mean peace, its use in fashion, post apocalyptic stories and how the symbol has been used in modern protests.
If I had one complaint about the book it would be over its presentation of the text. Since the photographs are clearly the selling point of this book, they often times break up the text in disconcerting ways. I had to go back a page or so frequently to retrace my steps before I could be sure I had read a sentence of a paragraph to its conclusion.
The book makes its way more or less chronologically from the bombings of Japan through the creation of the CND symbol to its evolution into the universal symbol of peace through a foreword, an introduction and eight chapters. The chapters cover the man behind the symbols creation and its various meanings, its use in the cold war, the symbol's coming of age, the Aldermaston March, the world wide adoption of the symbol to mean peace, its use in fashion, post apocalyptic stories and how the symbol has been used in modern protests.
If I had one complaint about the book it would be over its presentation of the text. Since the photographs are clearly the selling point of this book, they often times break up the text in disconcerting ways. I had to go back a page or so frequently to retrace my steps before I could be sure I had read a sentence of a paragraph to its conclusion.
January 28, 2012
I got this book as a Christmas present. I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember who gave it to me. I'd like to know so I can say, "Thanks, I really enjoyed that book." Well-written. Inspiring. Validating. Nostalgic. Terrific photographs, some familiar and iconic, others representative of the times and events. Full of historic tidbits I was unaware of. Helps me understand that I am more than an anachronism because I wear and distribute peace buttons. Reminds me how important the Peace effort is. Also makes me wonder what more can I do.
June 8, 2013
A great reference book that shows how the CND symbol became a more general symbol for peace. I used to draw this all the time as a child/teenager, and this book has reminded me of how relevant it is - I should start drawing it again!
Read
March 11, 2009interesting
Want to Read
August 19, 2018flipped through this at a cafe, felt sad about history and the state of affairs
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews