Over the course of one pivotal year, events that shaped American and world history took place: The North Vietnamese launched the Tet offensive. Prague Spring began. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. Students protested across the United States and around the world. Robert Kennedy was assassinated. The Democratic National Convention in Chicago was besieged by riots. Apollo 11 launched. And Richard Nixon was elected president of the United States. In the same year, Black athletes raised their fists in protest at the Olympic Games, "Hey Jude" became the Beatles biggest hit, and 2001: A Space Odyssey was released.

In many ways, this momentous year led us to where we are today. Covering popular culture, politics, war, economics, and the media, Mark Kurlansky shows how twelve volatile months transformed who we were as a people. But above all, he offers provocative insights into the underlying causes of the historical phenomenon that was the year 1968.