'How Belfast Got the Blues provides a meticulous account of Belfast's popular music culture and politics of the 1960s, going beyond the big names and greatest hits of the decade and, crucially, includes some of those disregarded in previous historical accounts. [...] [It] marks an incredibly valuable contribution to both Irish studies and popular music studies that both celebrates and critiques the multifaceted role of Belfast's music scenes and its international impact.'

A fascinating and highly original book that (re-)places Northern Ireland at the heart of key popular-musical, and broader popular-cultural, moments in the 1960s, offering fresh insights and presenting huge amounts of new material.

This is a brilliantly innovative book that pushes back the boundaries of existing knowledge quite substantially. It will remain for many years the definitive study of the subject and a point of reference for further research and controversy.