Tom Dunne: The glorious 1960s really were as significant as the Reformation   

Sixty years on from The Beatles' arrival, we're finally realising the weight of the cultural movement they helped spearhead through that momentous decade 

The Beatles, on the set of his television variety series,  The Ed Sullivan Show  in  New York, February 9, 1964.   (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

We all know that musically and culturally the sixties were a bit special. But could they have been so special their effects will still be felt hundreds of years from now? Are we living in a golden age? Should we be paying more attention?

Tom Holland, the historian, and one-half of the most consistently entertaining history podcasts on earth, The Rest is History, believes so. “The 1960s” he says, were as significant a decade for broad Western culture as the first decade (the 1520s) of the Reformation.” I think the correct exclamation here is “Yowzah!”