We review the physical characteristics and temporal development of a significant IMS magnetospheric event: the sudden commencement and multiple substorms of July 29, 1977. An interplanetary shock, superimposed on relatively high solar wind densities, forces the magnetopause at 0027 UT in past the position of GEOS 1(~6.7 RE). Following this compression, as well as periods of southward IMF, a series of substorms culminated in a very large substorm with peak electrojet current at 1230 UT, followed by a relatively quiet recovery phase. The ring current showed a maximum at 0600 UT and a major perturbation at 1230 UT corresponding to the last substorm. A large suite of international data were analyzed for this event, concluding in a computerized data analysis workshop (CDAW 2) in October 1979. Included in the analysis are results from eleven spacecraft, seven ground arrays, several numerical models, and theoretical calculations. Emphasis on the analysis was on the physical processes of energy transfer and magnetospheric dynamics. We describe the CDAW analysis and present an overview description of the event, including the solar wind conditions and magnetospheric response, as an introduction to this series of papers.