Using material from Dylan's personal archive, Heylin tells the story of the singer's meteoric rise to fame. Readers will follow Dylan's arrival in early 1961 in New York, where he is embraced by the folk scene; his elevation to spokesman of a generation whose protest songs provide the soundtrack for the burgeoning Civil Rights movement; his alleged betrayal when he 'goes electric' at Newport in 1965; and much more. At the peak of his fame in July 1966 Dylan reportedly crashes his motorbike in upstate New York, disappears from public view, and re-emerges: he looks different, his voice sounds different, his songs are different.