Born in 1954, Cleve Jones was among the last generation of gay Americans who grew up wondering if there were others out there like himself. There were. Like thousands of other young people, Jones was drawn in the early 1970s to San Francisco, a city electrified by progressive politics and sexual freedom.

Jones found community in the burgeoning gay district the Castro, where a New York transplant named Harvey Milk was to become the nation's most outspoken gay elected official. With Milk's encouragement, Jones dove into politics and found his calling in 'the movement', and when Milk was killed by an assassin's bullet in 1978, Jones took up his mentor's progressive mantle - only to see the arrival of AIDS transform his life once again.

By turns tender and uproarious, When We Rise is Jones' account of his remarkable life, chronicling the heartbreak of losing countless friends to AIDS, which very nearly killed him, too; his cofounding of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the conception of the AIDS Memorial Quilt; the harrowing, sexy and sometimes hilarious stories of Cleve's relationships with friends and lovers during an era defined by both unprecedented freedom and violence alike.

When We Rise is not only the story of a hero to the LGBTQ community, but the vibrantly voiced memoir of a full and transformative American life.

'Enlightening . . . unsparing . . . powerful' Booklist (starred review)

'You could read Cleve Jones' book because you should know about the struggle for gay, lesbian and transgender rights from one of its key participants - maybe heroes - but really, you should read it for pleasure and joy' Rebecca Solnit

'[An] amazing, inspiring and sometimes outrageous book' Gus Van Sant

'[Jones] takes us on [a] personal journey in the fight for equal rights - a journey filled with humour, sadness, love and, ultimately, profound change' Rob Reiner