33 Revolutions Per Minute - Softcover

"British music critic Dorian Lynskey offers a completely absorbing look at 33 songs, spanning seven decades and haling from five continents...Comprehensive and beautifully written."--Booklist (starred review) "Lynskey has a strong command of the music and its makers."--Wall Street Journal "[A] provocative, absorbing book"--Cleveland Plain Dealer "A longtime music critic, Lynskey presents up-close details to ballast the book's larger historical sweep."--Los Angeles Times "lovely writing...Let's praise the agile, many-tentacled writer Mr. Lynskey can often be, because I loved bits of this book; you can pluck out the many tasty things like seeds from a pomegranate."--New York Times "A must-read for militant-music lovers."--The Root "This book is impressive in scope."--New Yorker

33 Revolutions Per Minute tracks the turbulent relationship between popular music and politics, through 33 pivotal songs that span seven decades and four continents, from Billie Holiday singing 'Strange Fruit' to Green Day raging against the Iraq war. Dorian Lynskey explores the individuals, ideas and events behind each song, showing how protest music has soundtracked and informed social change since the 1930s. Through the work of such artists as Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Fela Kuti, The Clash, Public Enemy and Gil Scott Heron, Lynskey examines how music has engaged with racial unrest, nuclear paranoia, apartheid, war, poverty and oppression, offering hope, stirring anger, inciting action and producing songs which continue to resonate years down the line.