Between 1965 and 1972, political activists around the globe prepared to mount a revolution. While the Vietnam War raged, calls for black power grew louder and liberation movements erupted everywhere from Africa to Western Europe. Demonstrators took to the streets, fought gun battles with police, planted bombs in public buildings and attempted to overthrow the world’s most powerful governments.

Rock and soul music fuelled the revolutionary movement with anthems and iconic imagery. Soon the musicians themselves, from John Lennon and Bob Dylan to James Brown and Fela Kuti, were being dragged into the fray. Some joined the protesters on the barricades; some were persecuted for their political activism; some abandoned the cause and were dismissed as counter-revolutionaries.