Bob Marley

Reviews / Votes

"[Bob Marley: Herald of a Postcolonial World?] is the most intellectually nuanced and comprehensive treatement of Bob Marley available ... The book exemplifies nicely the analytical power of a rigorous and carefully applied social theoretical framework ... this is an excellent book, and I'm delighted that someone has finally given Bob Marley the elegant and sustained critical analytical treatment that he deserves. It is the richest , most serious, and most interesting scholarly analysis of Marley available."
Popular Music "The number of issues that Jason covers is quite remarkable and the bibliography highlights the excellent research; I doubt there will be many other books written on Bob Marley which cover 19th century slave revolts, mento and nyabinghi musical styles and unemployment and police harassment in Birmingham ... I fully recommend the book to anyone who has spent any length of time listening to Bob Marley, or to anyone who has an interest in the origins and spread of reggae music."
The Socialist

"Jason Toynbee not only brings out the complexity of his music in this fascinating book, but takes the reader to some interesting details of the history of the rise of one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century."
Spectrum

"This book is a serious scholarly treatment of the life and music of Bob Marley which is well worth reading. It does not only trace Bob Marley's life and music through the turbulent post-war years but attempts to answer a crucial question: why has this artiste and this music, from a small Carribean island, had such a broad global impact? ... Toynbee insists that the global appear of this music has its own independent substance. The same may be said for this thoughtful and knowledgeable book. Courses in cultural studies and musicology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels should take careful note."
Global Media and Communication

"A smart and engaging example of what a popular music biography should look like."
Timothy Taylor, University of California, Los Angeles

"As if infected by the sheer surprise and complexity of his music, this book makes sense of the contradictions of Bob Marley's life and work with wonderful analytic verve and an engaging display of the dogged scholarly need to understand. A tour-de-force of applied cultural theory and in itself confirmation of Bob Marley's continuing inspirational power!"
Simon Frith, Edinburgh University