We prove the global existence of weak solutions of the Cauchy problem for the Navier-Stokes equations of compressible, isentropic flow of a polytropic gas in one space dimension. The initial velocity and density are assumed to be in
L
2
{L^2}
and
L
2
∩
B
V
{L^2} \cap BV
respectively, modulo additive constants. In particular, no smallness assumptions are made about the intial data. In addition, we prove a result concerning the asymptotic decay of discontinuities in the solution when the adiabatic constant exceeds
3
/
2
3/2
.