1972, The Longest Year in History, Volume 1

1972 was not just a year—it was a turning point in the story of humanity. Time itself bent when leap seconds were added for the first time in history, but that technical anomaly only hinted at the deeper truth: history was moving faster than the world could process. In this gripping and masterfully written narrative, 1972, The Longest Year takes readers across continents and crises— from the bloodstained streets of Belfast and the tragic failures of Munich's Olympic Games, to the roaring skies of Operation Linebacker in Vietnam and the quiet triumph of Nixon stepping into Beijing. Diplomacy and devastation walked hand in hand; détente with Moscow and Beijing unfolded even as bombs fell on Hanoi. This book reveals how a single year carried wars, revolutions, assassinations, space missions, genocides, and political scandals that would shape the next half-century. But this is also a story of humanity's dreams and contradictions. As astronauts left the last human footprints on the Moon and gifted the world the "Blue Marble" image of Earth, the planet below trembled with earthquakes in Nicaragua, genocide in Burundi, and the forced expulsion of thousands under Idi Amin. Technology was quietly rewriting the future—Intel's microprocessor, Atari's Pong, and the birth of handheld calculators—while cinema, music, and art exploded into new forms with The Godfather, Ziggy Stardust, MAS*H, and Fischer vs. Spassky's chess war. Through meticulous research and cinematic storytelling, Blake Lee Mahon brings this extraordinary year to life—not as a collection of events, but as the moment the modern world was reforged.