Few small towns in America have as colorful a history as that of Woodstock, New York. Long before it was put on the map by the Woodstock Festival at Max Yasgur's Sullivan County farm in the summer of 1969, Woodstock was established as a haven for free-thinkers driven to the "earthly paradise" to pursue their vision of a Utopian, self-sufficient community. In this captivating history, Alf Evers shows how this community has been constantly redefined as successive generations of bohemians, artists, and exiles from the city have settled in this town, both unique to and exemplary of the American culture of which it has been so vital a part.