For instance Romain Rolland became famous with his anti-war novel Peter and Lucy. The USA had its “lost generation” in twenties with well-known intellectuals such as Ernest Hemingway or Gertrude Stein. After the WW II, Jack Kerouac and his friends known as the “beat generation” started to write their great novels such as “On the Road”. There is surely an analogy with the “angry young men” movement in England. All rebels have many things in common: they fight against the society, against prejudices, conventions and war. Every movement has its roots in the political and social background and these worlds are closely connected with one another. Culture usually reflects this background very sensitively and sometimes it is also connected with politics. There are 3 key literary works which have influenced thinking in Great Britain: Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (released in 1954), Look Back in Anger by John Osborne and Room at the Top by John Braine. The character of the last book shows the eagerness and rapacity of working-class people who feel enough self-confident to become an equal member of traditional high society which was unthinkable before.

Entertainment
Apart from the books there was a great phenomena after the war: a cinema. People wanted to forget the hard years of war horrors and to think of things which differed from the recent reality. A cinema was an entertainment for a large spectrum of people because the tickets were cheap. The cinema attendances reached its peak in 1946 – 1/3 of the population were going once a week and 13% twice a week. Going to the cinema was common Saturday night entertainment. People also went to watch football frequently. They could get more relaxed because they shouted a lot and this helped them to express their hidden emotions.

New generation
The post-war generations are always very different from the pre-war ones. They seem to be happier, more easy-going and full of new energy because the war remains only in their parents’ memories. Marwick means that “the war had given children certain freedoms”. Economic situation after the war helped to develop the children’s independence. The forties had their “spiv” and with the early fifties came “the first nationally recognized figure […]: the Teddy boy.” It represented the attitude of young people towards the rest of society and the fact that for the first time working-class youth could take the initiative.