San Francisco historian and bestselling author Dennis McNally—celebrated biographer of the Grateful Dead and longtime friend to the band—unveils his electrifying new study, The Last Great Dream: How Bohemians Became Hippies and Created the Sixties, on May 13, 2025. Available tomorrow wherever books are sold, the volume is now open for pre‑order at amazon.com/Last‑Great‑Dream….
In this sweeping social history, McNally follows the vibrant underground currents of political dissent, artistic experimentation, and spiritual yearning that converged on San Francisco’s Haight‑Ashbury during the mid‑20th century. Drawing on decades of meticulous research and firsthand interviews with key figures of the era, he reveals how disparate movements—from avant‑garde poetry readings to anti‑war protests—coalesced into the world’s first psychedelic neighborhood, birthing the “hippie” identity and forever changing the cultural landscape.
Few cities embody the spirit of 1960s counterculture more fully than San Francisco. By the mid‑’60s, self‑branded “freaks” had transformed Haight‑Ashbury into an alchemical laboratory for social reinvention, rejecting consumerism, militarism, and entrenched social hierarchies in favor of peace, creativity, and communal living. McNally’s narrative weaves together these many strands into a singular, panoramic story of idealism, sacrifice, and creative possibility.
A starred review from Publishers Weekly praises the book as “a stunning vision of a broad and powerful idealism that gripped the world for more than two decades,” noting that “McNally masterfully combines many disparate lineages of political, social, art, and pop history into one singular, sweeping portrait.”
Dennis McNally is the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead and has served as publicist for the legendary rock ensemble. With The Last Great Dream, he cements his reputation as one of the foremost chroniclers of America’s revolutionary spirit.
Order your copy tomorrow at
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Great-Dream-Bohemians-Hippies/dp/0306835665
