Chronicles the history of rock and roll from its beginnings to the present day, describing how the music evolved and changed society.

Rolling Stone has commissioned a new full-scale history by three rock experts. Ward covers the Fifties, Geoffrey Stokes the Sixties, Ken Tucker the Seventies and Eighties. Each provides a finely detailed chronicle of the major and minor figuresmusicians, company executives, disc jockeys, and promoters. No new historical interpretation is offered. As the authors tell it, rock sprang from country, gospel, and rhythm-and-blues; reached its creative peak in the Sixties; floundered during the Seventies; and has emerged reinvigorated with the appearance of artists like Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson