Nigel Fountain’s Underground: The London Alternative Press, 1966–1974 is the most comprehensive survey of the alternative newspapers and magazines that sprang up in the UK following the emergence of the New Journalism.

Cultural and political movements coalesced and polemicized in papers and magazines, providing the backbone of the counter culture. In telling the story of the emergence – and (in most cases) demise – of such important and influential publications as It, Oz, Black Dwarf, Spare Rib, Time Out and others, Underground holds up a mirror to the times, and in so doing reminds us that hard-fought-for liberties are never given for free, or without a cost.

In this updated version of a sought-after book long unavailable, Nigel Fountain adds in a new foreword, reflecting on the original book, the book’s subject, and the relevance of the underground in a digital age.