The story of skateboarding in the UK during the pivotal era between 1987 and 2002 when the British iteration of the sport developed its own unique identity and subsequently went on to inspire and transform global popular culture.

Elsewhere is the definitive oral history of British skateboarding. Told chronologically from the beginning of its identity shift to the start of the new millennium, the book explores the lasting influence British skateboarding continues to have on fashion, film, photography, art and media.

While British skateboarders moved the sport away from its Californian roots, embracing a different terrain with skaters in the north taking to ramps in abandoned warehouses and in the south skating the streets of new developments, the story of skateboarding in the UK goes far beyond the act of riding a board. As important were the cottage industries of clothes manufacture, photography, filmmaking and zine production that were inspired by British skateboarders: many of which are now multi-million-pound brands that regulate mainstream culture today.

Suitable not only for skaters but for anyone interested in film, fashion and photography, Elsewhere tells the story of skateboarding in the UK during the pivotal era of 1987-2002 when the British iteration of the sport developed its own unique identity and subsequently went on to inspire and transform global popular culture.

Details

ISBN13: 9781849949422
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 464
Edition:
Publication Date: 10 Jun 2026
Publisher: Batsford
Publication City, Country: United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 27.6(H)x21.6(L)
Weight (gm):

Author Biography

Neil Macdonald has been skateboarding since 1988, and writing about skateboarding for Sidewalk, North, Free and Grey since 2007. He owns one of the world's largest libraries of printed and audio-visual skateboard media, including complete sets of all UK publications and almost every British-made skateboard film, as well as many hundreds of pieces of hardware and clothing. His @scienceversuslife Instagram account celebrates the stylistic innovation of '90s skateboarding.

Reviews

'Majestic' 

-- The Idler

‘An absolute treasure trove’

* The Scotsman *

'Neil Macdonald's triumph of a book'

-- Transworld Skateboarding

'Neil Macdonald’s magnum opus’

-- Thrasher

'Captures UK skateboarding's grit and rawness.'

-- Huck

'A curated history.'

-- HERO