"Much has been written about the folk revival, but this book is unusual in examining its progression in both the US and Britain. Folk-music fans might be unaware that there was strong interest in American and British folk music before the highly publicized revival, and Cohen and Donaldson have done that important research. Highly Recommended."--Choice

«“The hugely engaging tome focuses its attention primarily on 1950 to 1958 or what you can think of as the period between the blacklisting of the Weavers and the rise of the Kingston Trio. . . . What Cohen and Donaldson’s book does so effectively is it maps the development chronologically, so it’s easy to see how we got from the Weavers to skiffle via the ‘Rock Island Line’ and finally to Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village. . . . Roots of the Revival is accessible and, for anyone with even a passing interest in folk music, absolutely fascinating.”— Shire Folk»

"Although there are other books and memoirs about the American folk revival, and some treatment of the revival in England, no one has thought to compare and analyze both of them together."--Richard Weissman, author of Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution: Music and Social Change in America

"A detailed account of the revival's factual history and many revealing anecdotes about its participants… Roots of the Revival is a significant addition to the scholarship on the 1950s folk music revival."--Journal of Folklore Research

"A solidly researched, well-written account of a significant decade in American and English vernacular music history."--Western Folklore

"Roots of the Revival is an indispensable text for scholars interested in the relationship between 'folk' and 'pop' at midcentury. It is more than simply a prehistory of 1960s folk activities, instead demonstrating how musicians, folklorists, and audiences navigated the concerns and events particular to the decade."--Notes