Come Together: John Lennon in his Time

Summary

In the summer of 1972, John Lennon planned a concert tour to rouse the youth of America to vote against the Vietnam war and Richard Nixon, in the process bringing rock 'n' roll together with radical politics. The Nixon administration was scared - scared that John Lennon, the controversial superstar, just might succeed and influence the outcome of the election at a time of great uncertainty and paranoia in American politics.Did Nixon really have something to fear? How had Lennon emerged as a significant political threat in the wake of a discredited war in Vietnam, the Watergate scandal and the apparent failure of the counter-culture? And why does the FBI still claim that parts of the Lennon file must be kept secret for reasons of 'national security'? In Come Together, Jon Wiener brilliantly examines Lennon's deeply held radical beliefs and explores how they influenced - and were influenced by - the political climate and culture of the time. It is a powerful political biography of a man who believed in rock 'n' roll as an instrument of revolution.