Skinheads Shaved For Battle: A Cultural History of American Skinheads

Jack Moore did a good job researching and reporting the history of the Skinhead movement. His observations on how the media came to a certain extent define Skinhead self-perception was also right on target. However, like most books written on subcultures, the author lacks the "inside" view. Throught the book I always got the impression he had never really attempted to submerge himself in the apathy, violence and lifestyle of the sub-culture he claimed to be documenting. Jack Moore's book is a good text for sociologists, but not for those really looking for an insiders view into the gritty underground that is Skinhead culture.

I think it was a good book, but the skinhead scene has branched out into so many different areas it is hard to write about. The evolution of skinheads, both White Power and others, has grown in so many different directions. Like any garden that goes unattended, both weeds and shrubs grow any direction they choose. Some choke out the others. The garden takes on its own life, not the life the gardener had originaly planned.