Foreword by Willie Nelson

Prologue: Unbroken circle

Turkey in the straw: the roots of commercial country music

Red hot and rarin' to go: the commercial beginnings, 1922-1930

No depression in heaven: country music in the 1930s

Happy trails: the rise (and renaissance) of cowboy music

Country music on the march: the World War II years

Country goes to town: the emergence of an industry, 1946-1954

Rocky road blues: bluegrass music's up and down journey

All shook up: the rock revolution and the Nashville sound

When two worlds collide: country music in the 1960s

Are you sure Hank done it this way? Country music 1972-1982

Tell me 'bout the good old days: tradition and change in the 1980s

Pocketful of gold: country music in the age of plenty

Afterword by Kyle Young, Director of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.