Cult classic Skinhead told the violent story of a gang of hooligans led by anti-hero Joe Hawkins. On its publication in 1970, few predicted success for it on the bestseller lists. But it went on to sell more than a million copies in just two years and was considered sufficiently controversial to be banned from school playgrounds. Behind the enigma of its writer Jim Moffat, alias Richard Allen, lay a bizarre reality. Allen had no connection with the youth gangs he wrote about, compiling all his research from newspapers and television. The Irish-Canadian was part of a publishing explosion of New English Library works in the seventies in which hundreds of novels, pumped out in quick succession, sold up to 500,000 copies each. Allen died in 1993 but, with the help of his widow, Derry, and skinheads who treasure his books, the strands of his life are drawn together. Extracts from Allen's enduringly popular books are read by Ross Kemp (Grant Mitchell in EastEnders).