A thrilling and moving history, told via 33 songs, of the music that inspired and soundtracked social change.

When pop music meets politics, the results are often thrilling, sometimes life-changing and never simple. 33 Revolutions Per Minute tracks this turbulent relationship across 33 pivotal songs that span seven decades and four continents, from Billie Holiday crooning Strange Fruit to Green Day raging against the Iraq war.

Dorian Lynskey explores the individuals, ideas and events behind each song, showing how protest songs have soundtracked and informed social change since the 1930s, making their presence felt from the streets to the corridors of power. Through the work of such artists as Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Fela Kuti, the Clash, U2, R.E.M., Public Enemy and Rage Against the Machine, this expansive survey 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, sometimes at great cost to the musicians involved.

Packed with anecdote, argument and exclusive new interviews, 33 Revolutions Per Minute is an absorbing and moving document of the songs that made history.