Moving beyond easy explanations, Selvin delves into the powerful musical and cultural forces that left Altamont poised for calamity even before the first performer took the stage. Exploring the two bands at the center—the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead—Selvin recounts the largely forgotten but crucial role that the Dead played in orchestrating the concert, offering a fresh look at how, in an era remembered for musical idealism, English and American rock worlds collided with devastating consequences. The product of thirty years of research, Altamont is the definitive account of the final event in rock’s formative and most turbulent decade.