Entertainment Books

Book SynopsisHe was the very first icon of the silver screen, and is one of the most recognisable faces in Hollywood, even a hundred years on from his first film. But what of the man behind the moustache? The director holding the camera as well as acting in front of it?Peter Ackroyd''s new biography turns the spotlight on Chaplin''s life as well as his work, from his humble theatrical beginnings in music halls to winning an honorary Academy Award. Everything is here, from the glamour of his golden age to the murky scandals of the 1940s and eventual exile to Switzerland. This masterful brief life offers fresh revelations about one of the most familiar faces of the last century and brings the Little Tramp into vivid colour.Trade ReviewHaunting... Brilliant and unsparing -- Simon Callow * Guardian *Compact, engrossing, intelligent -- John Carey * Sunday Times *Chaplin's rise makes an enthralling story, and it's one perfectly suited to Peter Ackroyd's prodigious and idiosyncratic talents... Ackroyd acknowledges Chaplin's many human failings, while at the same time giving us a vivid sense of what made the man a genius -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * The Telegraph *A beautifully judged book, driven by a powerful sense of life’s sadness -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *[A] fine biography… The luxury of a short book about a vast life cannot be overestimated -- Susie Boyt * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisMARILYN MONROE is the most celebrated and controversial female icon of the 20th century. At last, Donald Spoto has produced an acclaimed biography worthy of this extraordinary and unforgettable star.With access to more than 35,000 pages of formerly sealed documents and interviews with 150 people who have never spoken on record before, Spoto''s definitive biography reveals the truth behind the myths and speculations surrounding Marilyn''s life and death. He exposes the falsehoods and casts new light on every aspect of Marilyn Monroe''s 36 years: her dramatic childhood; her marriages; her relationships with movie moguls; politicians, poets, artists and statesmen. But most astonishing of all, he presents the reality of her death - more horrifying than anything a Hollywood screenwriter could have devised.Moving, often shocking, always absorbing, Marilyn Monroe will stand as the ultimate and compulsively readable biography of the woman who continues to enthrall millions.''Not just sensational, but sensationally good'' - Sunday Telegraph''At long last Marilyn Monroe has found her knight in shining armour...[her] true story has been revealed'' - Daily Mirror''An impressive reminder of the tough, triumphalist Norma Jean...for once she has a biographer worthy of her'' - JULIE BURCHILL, Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisIn One-Man Band, the third volume in his epic survey of Orson Welles' life and work, Simon Callow again probes in comprehensive and penetrating detail into one of the most complex artists of the twentieth century, looking closely at the triumphs and failures of an ambitious one-man assault on one medium after another theatre, radio, film, television, even, at one point, ballet in each of which his radical and original approach opened up new directions and hitherto unglimpsed possibilities.The book begins with Welles' self-exile from America, and his realisation that he could only function happily as an independent film-maker, a one-man band; by 1964, he had filmed Othello, which took three years to complete, Mr Arkadin, the biggest conundrum in his output, and his masterpiece Chimes at Midnight, as well as Touch of Evil, his sole return to Hollywood and, like all too many of his films, wrested from his grasp and re-edited. Along the way Trade ReviewOne Man Band gathers strength page by page. This is by far the funniest volume of the three, and in some ways the most revelatory. The more vulnerable Welles becomes, the more vivid Callow’s writing. The fear was always that a description of Welles’ later years would be depressing. But this is that rare thing: a book about decline which is actually exhilarating -- David HareOne Man Band gathers strength page by page. This is by far the funniest volume of the three, and in some ways the most revelatory. The more vulnerable Welles becomes, the more vivid Callow’s writing. The fear was always that a description of Welles’ later years would be depressing. But this is that rare thing: a book about decline which is actually exhilarating -- David HareA biography as huge as if it had been fed a Welles-style diet of roasted chicken and foie gras -- Victoria Segal * Sunday Times *Callow continuously strikes to the quick and the essential in Welles -- Michael Coveney * Independent *Impeccably detailed research peppered with anecdotes and […] his witty conversational style -- Kevin Maher * The Times *

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Book SynopsisWhy have all human cultures - today and throughout history - made music? Why does music excite such rich emotion? How do we make sense of musical sound? These are questions that have, until recently, remained mysterious. Now The Music Instinct explores how the latest research in music psychology and brain science is piecing together the puzzle of how our minds understand and respond to music. Ranging from Bach fugues to nursery rhymes to heavy rock, Philip Ball interweaves philosophy, mathematics, history and neurology to reveal why music moves us in so many ways. Without requiring any specialist knowledge, The Music Instinct will both deepen your appreciation of the music you love, and open doors to music that once seemed alien, dull or daunting, offering a passionate plea for the importance of music in education and in everyday life.''You''ll never listen to music the same way again'' - IndependentTrade ReviewWonderful account of why music matters... one of the finest and most versatile of current non-fiction writers * Sunday Times *Exemplary... In contemplating the mysteries of music we are also contemplating the mystery of ourselves... Ball, thankfully, doesn't try to provide any easy answers, but rather sends the reader back to the music a better listener * Observer *This is a truly fascinating and eye-opening account of a phenomenon so commonplace we barely think about it, yet one which is also mind-bogglingly complicated. Once you've read The Music Instinct, you'll never listed to music the same way again * Independent *A musical experience in itself...his love of the subject is abundantly evident.. His mastery of many scientific disciplines is a delight * Daily Telegraph *Impressively engaging...it will be the rare music lover that does not come away without having learned many interesting things * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisHOWARD GOODALL is an Emmy, BRIT and BAFTA award-winning composer of choral music (Eternal Light: A Requiem), stage musicals (The Hired Man, Love Story), film and TV scores - among them The Vicar of Dibley, Q.I., Red Dwarf, Blackadder and Into the Storm. He was awarded the CBE in 2011 for service to music education.Trade ReviewA lively zip through some 45 milennia -- Christopher Hart * Sunday Times *Goodall is an engaging and erudite guide and this work is both accessible and illuminating -- Caroline Jowett * Daily Express *Great length but still leavened with lively wit -- Sameer Rahim * Telegraph *[Goodall] knows his stuff, and tells it well -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian *Highly knowledgeable, and a brilliant communicator, Goodall has an infectious enthusiasm and is genuinely respectful of all forms of music * Good Book Guide *

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Book SynopsisIn this eloquent, intimate exploration of the delights and demands of the piano, world-renowned concert pianist and music writer Charles Rosen draws on a lifetime''s wisdom to consider every aspect of the instrument: from what makes a beautiful sound to suffering from stage fright, from the physical challenges of playing to tales of great musicians, including Vladimir Horowitz''s recording tricks, Rachmaninov''s hands and why Artur Rubenstein applied hairspray to the keys. Gracefully blending anecdote, history, expertise and memoir, Piano Notes will enchant anyone with a passion for music.

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Book SynopsisAbbate and Parker''s A History of Opera is the first full new history of opera in sixty years - now in paperback in an updated second edition''The best single volume ever written on the subject'' The Times Literary SupplementWhy has opera transfixed and fascinated audiences for centuries? Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker answer this question in their scrupulous and provocative retelling of the history of opera, examining its development, the means by which it communicates, and its societal role. In a new revision with an expanded examination of opera as an institution in the twenty-first century this book explores the tensions that have sustained opera over 400 years: between words and music, character and singer, inattention and absorption. Abbate and Parker argue that, though the genre''s most popular and enduring works were almost all written in a distant European past, opera continues to transform the viewer with its enduring power.

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Book SynopsisA silent comedy star whose legendary slapstick routines are recognisable to this day, Charles ''Charlie'' Chaplin''s My Autobiography is an incomparably vivid account of the life of one of the greatest filmmakers and comedians, with an introduction by David RobinsonAs a child, Charlie Chaplin was awed and inspired by the sight of glamorous vaudeville stars passing his home, and from then on he never lost his ambition to become an actor. Chaplin''s film career as the Little Tramp adored by the whole world is the stuff of legend, but this frank autobiography shows another side. Born into a theatrical family, Chaplin''s father died of drink while his mother, unable to bear the poverty, suffered from bouts of insanity. From a childhood of grinding poverty in the south London slums, Chaplin found an escape in his early debut on the music hall stage, followed by his lucky break in America, the founding of United Artists with D.W. Griffith and Douglas Fairbanks, the struggle to maintain artistic control over his work, the string of failed marriages, and his eventual exile from Hollywood after personal scandals and persecution for his left-wing politics during the McCarthy Era.Sir Charles ''Charlie'' Chaplin (1895-1976) was born in Walworth, London. Best known for his work in silent film, his most famous role was The Little Tramp, a universally recognisable and iconic character who appeared in films such as The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925) and City Lights (1931). His other films include Modern Times (1936), a commentary on the Great Depression, and The Great Dictator (1940), a satirical attack on Hitler and the Nazis.If you enjoyed My Autobiography, you might like Andy Warhol''s The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.''Tells so much about this curious, difficult man ... a wonderfully vivid imagination''The New York Times''The only genius to come out of the movie industry''George Bernard Shaw

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Book SynopsisIn this triumphant work David Thomson, one of film''s greatest living experts and author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, tells the enthralling story of the movies and how they have shaped us.Sunday Times, New Statesman, The Times, Guardian, Observer and Independent BOOKS OF THE YEARTaking us around the globe, through time and across multiple media, Thomson tracks the ways in which we were initially enchanted by this mesmerizing imitation of life and let movies - the stories, the stars, the look - show us how to live. But at the same time he shows us how movies, offering a seductive escape from the everyday reality and its responsibilities, have made it possible for us to evade life altogether. The entranced audience has become a model for powerless citizens trying to pursue happiness by sitting quietly in a dark room. Does the big screen take us out into the world, or merely mesmerize us? That is ThoTrade ReviewProbably the best overview of the cinema ever written. It sparkles with insight, is packed with anecdote, and pulses with passion ... a glorious celebration of one of humankind's great inventions -- John Banville * Guardian BOOKS OF THE YEAR *A devilish, dazzling, out-there divination ... Criticism is rarely this passionate and brilliant. You come away wanting to watch it all * Empire *David Thomson is a giant in the world of film criticism, and his book is the chest-crusher you might expect: erudite, delightfully tangential and surprisingly polemical -- Kate Muir * The Times *Thomson has composed a grand aesthetic, spiritual, and moral account of cinema history assembled around the movies and artists that have meant the most to him. As Thomson reconstructs film history, movies bring us close to reality and deliver us into ecstatic dreams. A pungently written, brilliant book -- David Denby (author of SNARK)The theme of The Big Screen is the weirdness of desire ... Drawing on his vast stock of knowledge, Thomson takes us on a meander through Nouvelle Vague and Italian neorealism; Coppola and Scorsese; MGM musicals and film noir. He always comes back in the end to the kind of fun it is possible to have only at the movies, sitting in the dark, staring at the light ... Line by line, Thomson is still the greatest biographical writer about film of all time ... to read him on his favourite films is to be sent back with renewed yearning to that land of Californian light and loveliness * Sunday Times *Subtle, erudite and entertaining * Economist *Fascinating ... a loose-limbed, conversational narrative, moving fitfully through time, dawdling over directors and films that interest ... crackling with ideas and vivid impressionisms ... Thomson's stylish prose, simultaneously erudite and entertaining, captivates as it informs ... Buffs and casual fans alike will enjoy this extra-large serving of popcorn for thought * Publishers Weekly *The greatest living writer on the movies ... The Big Screen is surely his magnum opus -- John Banville * New Statesman BOOKS OF THE YEAR *Rigorous and rewarding, and a page rarely passes without insight * Independent BOOKS OF THE YEAR *Nobody else would match its sweep, its erudition, its discernment or its warmth -- David Hare * Guardian BOOKS OF THE YEAR *There are always irreverent arguments about the status of filmmaking in David Thomson's writing: "Story ideas hang around in Hollywood longer than some marriages or buildings." Or "It would be said of British cinema that it was nothing until a band of Hungarians took it over." This goes alongside his real passion for the art: On Sweet Smell of Success - "The film was shot in a glittering harsh black and white by James Wong Howe and looked like the hide of a crocodile in the moonlight." On Colonel Blimp - "There is one scene of Deborah Kerr with auburn hair and in a cornflower blue dress, in shadow and firelight, that must be among the most romantic shots made during the war. No one in Britain before had seen that you could make a film because you were crazy about a girl." David Thomson is, I think, the best writer on film in our time. If Have you Seen? was his most succinct and entertaining book, The Big Screen is a large and vivacious map on the history of 'the screen': beginning with Muybridge and then tracing careers ranging from Korda to Renoir to Hawkes to Mizoguchi, to David Lynch and Tarentino, then swerving over to television shows such as I love Lucy and The Sopranos. He has found and created a marvellous plot for the history of film with insights and revelations on every page, as well as a few mcguffins. He is our most argumentative and trustworthy historian of the screen -- Michael OndaatjeA great critic cuts both ways - he nudges you into reconsidering the films you love, as well as the ones you dislike. David Thomson's sensual prose has always amplified the imagination of a great critic. In broad outline, The Big Screen is a history of the movies, a wide-ranging task which usually carries with it a certain amount of connect-the-dots tedium. But Thomson's emphases are typically fresh and often ecstatic, even when he's disparaging a film you love. Nobody does it better -- Scott Eyman (author of EMPIRE OF DREAMS and LION OF HOLLYWOOD)Of the medium's many distinguished critics, none is better informed or more authoritative than David Thomson ... [The Big Screen is] part film history, part thesis, part love letter and lament ... genuine insights abound ... Like any great work of criticism, the book is essentially an education in good taste, and crucially it sends us back to the movies. Thomson's montage of ecstasies and laments re-awakens in us the thrill and wonder of moving images and the need to know what happens next. In that, it is as close to definitive as any book on film can be. Just as we look at the movies, we should listen to him * Spectator Life *David Thomson is a metaphysician of the movies ... Thomson's brain is the ultimate repertory theatre, perpetually rerunning our favourites and allowing us to wonder at them all over again. The highest praise I can give him is to say that the images he treasures are just as alive on his pages as they were on the big screen -- Peter Conrad * Guardian *A love letter to a dying art, [The Big Screen] is also a scathing indictment of its legacy. In over 500 pages of breathtaking criticism, [Thomson] seeks to understand the impact of the screen upon our collective consciousness * Sunday Telegraph *A cultural overview of the past, present and future of the movies * Sunday Times BOOKS OF THE YEAR *This is a wildly seductive love letter to what Thomson concludes is a 'lost love' ... he rapturously recalls a lifetime's enchantment with the big screen * Metro *A startling analysis of what happens to us in the darkness as we dream with eyes open * Observer BOOKS OF THE YEAR *There's one standout in this year's slew of film literature, The Big Screen written by David Thomson, a giant in the world of film criticism. His book is erudite but readable, delightfully tangential, and surprisingly polemical. He provides a fascinating ride through the past century of mostly American cinema and posits a theory that 'the shining light and the huddled masses' of yore will be replaced by digital anomie, as the big screen is replaced by YouTube on an iPhone -- Kate Muir * The Times BOOKS OF THE YEAR *[The Big Screen] works both as an engaging primer on film history and as a map for more numinous shifts in the path of popular art ... Thomson offers a nuanced portrait ... the details of his narrative glimmer with offbeat insight -- Nathan Heller * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisNo, Groucho is not my real name, I''m just breaking it in for a friend.'' Presenting the greatest and most hilarious examples of Groucho, one of the most influential and well-loved figures in the long and glittering history of comedy. From early scripts to complete screenplays, from magazine funnies to fascinating personal correspondence, via books, greedy banks, even greedier lawyers and the coming of television, Kanfer''s collection captures the essence of Groucho''s inimitable comic genius. ''I never forget a face, but in your case I''ll make an exception...

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Book Synopsis''Delightfully good ... an exuberant and learned celebration of British culture ... full of love for and fascination with everything from the origins of heavy metal in the metal-bashing industries of the West Midlands to John Lennon''s and Damien Hirst''s lust for money'' Nick Cohen, Observer''Terrific ... I defy you not to be swept up in a narrative that''s as colourful as it is dramatic'' - John Preston, Mail on Sunday''Dramatic, perceptive and often extremely funny'' Spectator, Books of the YearBritain''s empire has gone. We no longer matter as we once did. And yet there is still one area in which we can legitimately claim superpower status: our popular culture. It is extraordinary to think that one British writer, J. K. Rowling, has sold more than 400 million books; that Doctor Who is watched in almost every developed country in the world; that James Bond has been the central character in the longesTrade ReviewDelightfully good ... an exuberant and learned celebration of British culture -- Nick Cohen * Observer *Not only thoroughly entertaining, but crammed with as many serious insights as a shelf-ful of academic studies. -- Alwyn W Turner * The Telegraph *Relentlessly entertaining -- Daisy Goodwin * Sunday Times *I read it in less than two days, my attention never flagging ... It is dramatic, perceptive and often extremely funny -- John Preston * Spectator *I read it in less than two days, my attention never flagging ... Embracing everything from Black Sabbath's guitarist, Tony Iommi, losing his fingers in a sheet metal press to the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, it's dramatic, perceptive and often extremely funny. * Books of the Year, Spectator *It was hard to find a more convincing read ... a highly entertaining look at everything from The Avengers to Harry Potter that proclaims Britain as the champion of culture, spreading words and songs internationally like no other * Books of the Year, Sunday Times *Sandbrook's hugely enjoyable analysis of why we continue to punch above our weight in this area ... covers everything from boarding school tales (Tom Brown to Harry Potter) to country house tales (Brideshead and Downton), the works of Tolkien to the 2012 Olympics. * Books of the Year, Mail on Sunday *Terrific fun ... Sandbrook isn't like other historians ... He heads off down strange, neglected byways, teasing out unexpected connections, with the results often proving far more illuminating - and enjoyable - than conventional narratives ... I defy you not to be swept up in a narrative that's as colourful as it is dramatic. -- John Preston * Mail on Sunday *Engrossing ... delightful ... a book that relishes an argument and likes to challenge received opinion ... not only thoroughly entertaining, but crammed with as many serious insights as a shelf-ful of academic studies. -- Alwyn Turner * Daily Telegraph *Witty ... enthusiastic ... a passionate and admirable defence of coach-party musical theatre, large-print historical fiction, wedding reception rock, Orc sagas, To the Manor Born, Arnold Bennett, Billy Bunter and Billy Elliot ... The hot core of his story, though, is made of the most thrillingly unlikely material. -- Matthew Sweet * Guardian *Splendid ... Sandbrook is always an engaging and perceptive writer and the subject lends itself to his eye for a story and his ability to connect with the reader. This is, after all, a book about the very things that, over the past century, we have most enjoyed, from Hercule Poirot to Sgt Pepper. -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *Sparkling ... fascinating ... always enlightening ... as usual with Sandbrook, there are some lovely vignettes and incongruous details ... Academic writers could certainly learn something from his lightness of touch and ability to build an argument. -- Joe Moran * Literary Review *Beautifully written ... wonderfully counter-intuitive ... with an excellent feel for the contemporary pulse and the surprising killer detail ... I, too, have left out loads that Sandbrook has cleverly and incisively included. -- Nick Curtis * London Evening Standard *A marvellous read ... juicy, irresistible, restoring the past with all its delight, defeats and energy to the ageing spectator ... He delights in the sheer, tumbling crowdedness of British popular culture over the past half century or so, crams in at a terrific pace the innumerable stories of its successes, and lends the status of heroism to his favourite figures. The author catches with infectious excitement the cracking pace and headlong productivity of this teeming crowd. -- Fred Inglis * Times Higher Education Supplement *Masterly ... lively and stimulating ... He loves to debunk received opinion. -- Robert Low * Standpoint *A vivid, endlessly fascinating account of the numerous achievements of this country's national imagination. This book is my personal dream factory ... so invigorating and exciting. -- Jessie Thompson * Huffington Post *Defiantly populist ... Dominic Sandbrook zestfully charts the route that has taken Britain from 'workshop of the world' to 'cultural superpower' ... as Sandbrook rightly insists, 'we still live in the shadow of the Victorians -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *Brilliant. -- A N Wilson * The Tablet *An engaging and very accessible history book about our modern artistic achievements that, provocatively, also debunks some of the very icons it praises. -- Simon Copeland * The Sun *I loved this book about British culture, partly because there's so much in it, and partly because of the brilliant way the author joins the dots ... Sandbrook gets us thinking about cinema, art, country houses, Tolkein, Doctor Who, and, superbly, much more. -- William Leith * Evening Standard *An entertaining trawl through British culture ... [Sandbrook] has produced a book that is not only thoroughly enjoyable to read, but also crammed with as many serious insights as a shelf of academic studies * The Times *It's a great premise, and I dived into, and splashed around in, this book gleefully at first. Here were lucid and often amusing expositions on the work of Lennon and McCartney, Ian Fleming, JRR Tolkien, Christie ... in his books on Britain in the 1950s and 60s, Sandbrook has covered some of this ground before. But he doesn't repeat himself, and his scope is wider than heretofore - he notices, for instance, how ingrained Charles Dickens's influence is, still, in popular entertainment ... It would be impossible to please everyone. But when Sandbrook is pleasing, he is very pleasing indeed. -- Nick Lezard * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis''Beguiling ... Limpidly written, effortlessly learned'' William Boyd, TLS, Books of the YearIn November 1838 Frédéric Chopin, George Sand and her two children sailed to Majorca to escape the Parisian winter. They settled in an abandoned monastery at Valldemossa in the mountains above Palma, where Chopin finished what would eventually be recognised as one of the great and revolutionary works of musical Romanticism - his 24 Preludes. There was scarcely a decent piano on the island (these were still early days in the evolution of the modern instrument), so Chopin worked on a small pianino made by a local craftsman, which remained in their monastic cell for seventy years after he and Sand had left.This brilliant and unclassifiable book traces the history of Chopin''s 24 Preludes through the instruments on which they were played, the pianists who interpreted them and the traditions they came to represent. Yet it begins and ends with the Majorcan pianino, which during the Second World War assumed an astonishing cultural potency as it became, for the Nazis, a symbol of the man and music they were determined to appropriate as their own.The unexpected hero of the second part of the book is the great keyboard player and musical thinker Wanda Landowska, who rescued the pianino from Valldemossa in 1913, and who would later become one of the most influential musical figures of the twentieth century. Kildea shows how her story - a compelling account based for the first time on her private papers - resonates with Chopin''s, while simultaneously distilling part of the cultural and political history of Europe and the United States in the central decades of the century. Kildea''s beautifully interwoven narratives, part cultural history and part detective story, take us on an unexpected journey through musical Romanticism and allow us to reflect freshly on the changing meaning of music over time.Trade ReviewA wonderful book about music, musicians, cultural similarities and differences, the blood and gore of revolutionary times and the compensations of high art. Kildea writes with elegance and wit, and displays the kind of scholarship that does not come from simply mugging up on a few books. ... A book that will, amongst other things, send the reader back with fresh ears to the delightful, tormented Pole, and hear the music he composed on a borrowed piano in a monastery cell in Mallorca one terrible winter -- Michael Henderson * The Times *Chopin's Piano takes the motif of this piano - "Out of date before it was completed"; its maker Juan Bauza unknown and possibly an amateur - and uses it to tie together various narrative strands in an original, constantly interesting format. As it does it tells the story of Chopin's work, the development of piano making, and how music became inextricably linked to atrocities in the 20th century. -- Jonathan McAloon * Financial Times *An episodic, picaresque tale, woven confidently - at times even pacily - by Kildea. He writes knowledgeably and approachably about music and sympathetically about his cast of characters. It is the story of an obsession, but it manages not to feel obsessional. ... I enjoyed it very much. -- Alan Rusbridger * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisBerlioz was one of the towering figures of Romanticism: not only was he a great and revolutionary composer, but also the finest composer of his day and an outstanding critic and writer. Yet throughout his life he struggled for money and his music was persistently reviled in his native France. With exceptional insight and sympathy, David Cairns draws together the major strands of Berlioz''s life: his tempestuous marriage to the actress Harriet Smithson; the genesis of his famous works, including the Requiem, Romeo and Juliet and his crowning masterpiece The Trojans; his friendships with Mendelssohn, Liszt, Princess Wittgenstein and Wagner; and, finally, his last years haunted once again by personal tragedy. Here, as never before, is Berlioz the artist - and the man.

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Book SynopsisThe late-eighteenth century witnessed multiple Medeas take to the stages of Europe, in the Americas, and across the Russian empire. Performances took place in Moscow and São Paulo, in London and Lisbon, in Gotha, Stuttgart, and Venice. This lively collection of essays examines the various reasons why Medea, the ancient mother who killed her own children, attracted the attention of authors, audiences, actors, and rulers in Europe and its dominions during the pivotal period 1750 to 1800, and to what effects. As a migrant and iconoclast, Medea crosses a number of eighteenth-century borders: linguistic, cultural, national, temporal, spatial, aesthetic, ethical, and generic. Moreover, the fact that late-eighteenth-century playwrights, poets, composers, and choreographers all turned to one of the most problematic characters of Greco-Roman antiquity offers a unique opportunity to examine the remarkable flexibility of the reception process itself. Medea therefore functions as an intriguing case study, reflecting a wider context of cultural and political change within Europe and its colonies in the late-eighteenth century. By drawing together eighteenth-century specialists working across multiple languages and disciplines with the reception perspective of classical scholars, this volume brings much rare material from a range of archives across continental Europe to critical attention for the first time. Mapping Medea shows how the eighteenth century made Medea modern, and Medea helped to shape modern performance.Table of Contents1: Anna Albrektson and Fiona Macintosh: Mapping Medea: Revolutions and Transfers 1750-1800 I: Medea in an Expanding Eighteenth-Century World 2: Edith Hall: Pushing the Boundaries of Operatic Convention and European Identity: Generic and Historical Perspectives on Georg Benda's 1775 Medea 3: Larisa Nikiforova: Medea's Russian Images on Stage and in Literature: The Politics and Poetics of Female Characters 4: Anthony John Lappin: An Imperial Medea: Spain, Portugal, the Colonies 5: Anna Albrektson: Inverting the Barbarian: Estrangement and Excess in the Eighteenth-Century Medea II: Local Interpretations and Global Issues: Ontology and Form 6: Fiona Macintosh: From Hearth to Hades: Breaking Boundaries with Medea and ballet d'action 7: Jörg Krämer: Shaping Complexity: Medea in the German-Language Theatre of the Eighteenth Century 8: Petra Dotla%cilová: Visual Narrative: The Role of Costumes in Noverre's ballet d'action, Médée et Jason 9: Zoé Schweitzer: Medea as Infanticidal Mother in the Late Eighteenth-Century Theatre 10: Roland Lysell: Medea--Sorceress or Woman? c.1750 and Beyond Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsisfor SATB and brass ensemble or full orchestraGloria was written in 1974 in response to a commission from The Voices of Mel Olson, a choir based in the USA. The division of the work into three movements â respectively proclamatory, prayerful, and joyfully affirmative â corresponds to the divisions in the text. Most of the melodic material derives from a Gregorian chant associated with this text.An accompaniment for orchestra without organ is also available.Full scores, vocal scores, and instrumental parts are available on hire. The first movement of Gloria is available separately under the title Gloria 1.Trade Reviewsits happily in the repertoire of almost any sized choir. Dating from 1974, it remains one of his most popular works. The two outer movements are gloriously bright, while the quieter middle section is more gentle. Once again, choirs love to sing this music, and audiences seldom fail to respond to it. * BBC Music Magazine Nov 97 *

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Book Synopsisfor soprano solo, SATB, piano, bass, drums and optional alto saxophone This piece is a dynamic, uplifting, and highly popular jazz setting of the Latin mass, featuring driving grooves and blues harmonies, with provision for short piano solos (notated or improvised) and great moments of musical interplay between soprano soloist and choir.

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Book SynopsisThis collection caters for church choirs of all types and sizes and presents flexibility of scoring in a constructive and realistic way, with particular provision for unison or two-part singing, while not forgetting SATB choirs, and a focus on ease of learning and performance. With complete coverage of the Church's year, this is a vital resource for all church choirs.Trade ReviewIt is an excellent collection of 66 anthems suitable for the church choir that wants to sing anthems regularly but may sometimes struggle to have a balanced number of parts. Most of these pieces can be sung effectively in unison, and all have suggestions for performance by varied ensembles, so some are most effective as two-part pieces, others SATB or SAB. For church choirs with limited rehearsal time, this book will be valuable. With this collection, you don't have to abandon a particular anthem when your only tenor is away. Flexibility allows omitting or rearranging parts without sacrificing the integrity of the composition. * Part 1 of review by Gordon Appleton, www.rscm.com, June 2017 *OUP has a great advantage in that it has been able to trawl through its many past publications and reuse them (sometimes in new arrangements) here . . . As editor, composer and arranger, [Alan Bullard] has ensured that what is provided here is both practical and accessible, yet of good quality. It contains a variety of music for the Church's year and a comprehensive liturgical and thematic index. A dedicated website, www.oup.com/flexible, allows many of the anthems to be heard in performance â a useful aid to choir directors and singers . . . This collection is wholeheartedly recommended - but if you need a copy that stays flat on the keyboard music stand, do opt for the spirally bound edition; both this and the ordinary paperback are excellent value. * Part 2 of review by Gordon Appleton, www.rscm.com, June 2017 *Composer Alan Bullard has assembled sixty-six anthems covering the entire liturgical year and representing a wide swath of traditional English choral repertoire. Selections for Evensong are also included, extending the reach of the collection . . . The result is a highly practical resource for summer choirs or for any time when there is a question as to which singers will actually show up on a Sunday morning. The adaptability of the pieces and the high quality of editorial choices make for a safe collection in less than ideal circumstances. The anthology is also available in a spiral bound edition, particularly attractive for organists and conductors. * The Journal of the Assoc. of Anglican Musicians, May 2017 *. . . the variety of performance options are all explained carefully in the preface, which also provides details of the associated web page (www.oup.com/flexible) where more details about the original format and publication of each piece are sensibly provided. * Geoffrey Webber, Church Music Quarterly, May 2017 *

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Book Synopsisfor SATB and soprano soloFresh and unsentimental, this setting is as beautiful as the familiar anthem by Stainer of this much-loved text, and a worthy alternative.Trade ReviewOne of the most versatile choral composers around today, and one, moreover, who thoroughly understands the human voice, Bob Chilcott has presented the choral repertoire with an unusual setting of one of the loveliest passages from the New Testament, John 3:16 . . . A very welcome addition to the Passiontide and Easter repertoire, it is within the capabilities of any good parish church choir. Warmly recommended. * Herbert Howell, Australian Music Teacher March 2002 *This is a very simple, homophonic setting, essentially a four-part first section repeated with an added solo-soprano counter melody. In spite of the apparent simplicity, this is an expressive setting with some interesting harmonic colouring and ever-extending melodic range. The added soprano line adds some uplifting touches. As part of worship it could provide a moment of intense spirituality if performed with appropriate style, feeling and conviction. * Music Teacher Nov 2000 *

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Book Synopsis50 easy anthemsTable of ContentsHelp me, O Lord ; All people at this hour ; Come sweetest death ; Dearest Lord Jesu ; Flocks in pastures green abiding ; Forget me not! ; Here lies He now ; Jesu, hope of men despairing ; Give laud unto the Lord ; Good Christian men rejoice and sing ; Ye servants of God ; He is risen ; Pleasure it is ; Be peace on earth ; Above Him stood the Seraphim ; He that is down needs fear no fall ; My spirit longs for Thee ; Bless the Lord, O my soul ; O, praise God in His holiness ; The strife is o'er ; Let all the world ; Most glorious Lord of life: Vox ultima Crucis ; Lord, for Thy tender mercy's sake ; My eyes for beauty pine ; O Lord, I will praise Thee ; A Choral Hymn for Advent or Ascensiontide ; Come, Thou long expected Jesus ; The souls of the righteous ; Above all praise and all majesty ; Ave Verum ; Ye watchers and ye holy ones ; Come, Thou Holy Spirit, come ; O Holy Jesu ; Shepherds loud their praises singing ; Kings in glory ; Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven ; Christ is the world's true Light ; Drop down, ye heavens ; Richard de Castre's Prayer to Jesus ; Come, ye faithful ; All from the sun's uprise ; O how amiable ; O taste and see ; We adore Thee, O Lord Christ ; Jesu, the very thought of Thee ; O Love of whom is truth and light ; I sing of a Maiden that is mateless ; A Prayer of St Richard of Chichester ; O Thou who at Thy Eucharist did'st pray

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Book SynopsisA third collection of 50 carols, mostly for SATB, some unaccompanied, and some having accompaniments for piano, organ, or orchestra. The carols reflect a diversity of styles and periods, while remaining within the capacity of an average group of amateur performers. Includes compositions and arrangements by Britten, Holst, Howells, Hurford, Vaughan Williams, and Walton.Orchestral and brass accompaniments for many of the items are available on hire.Table of ContentsA babe is born ; A babe is born in Bethlehem ; A child this day is born ; All in the morning ; Angel tidings ; Angelus ad Virginem ; Bethlehem, of noblest cities ; Birthday Carol ; Boar's head carol ; Child in a manger ; Christ was born on Christmas Day ; Christe, redemptor omnium ; Christmas Oratorio (3 extracts) ; Come all you worthy gentlemen ; Come, rock the cradle for him (from Psalteriolum Harmonicum) ; The Cradle ; Cradle song ; The crown of roses ; Deck the hall ; Donkey carol ; Earth has many a noble city ; Flemish carol ; Gabriel's message ; Hark! the herald angels sing ; He smiles within his cradle ; Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber ; I saw three ships ; Il est ne le divin enfant ; In dulci jubilo ; In the bleak mid-winter ; Jesus Child ; King Herod and the cock ; King Jesus hath a garden ; Kings of orient ; Lo! he comes with clouds descending ; O come, all ye faithful ; O little town of Bethlehem ; Omnis mundus jocundetur ; Once, as I remember ; Psallite unigenito ; Salve puerule ; Shepherds, in the field abiding ; Silent night ; Sing we to this merry company ; Star carol ; Sunny bank ; Susanni ; There is no rose ; This joyful Eastertide ; Tryste Noel ; Wexford Carol ; What child is this? ; What sweeter music

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Book SynopsisA series of little books of short carefully graded folk tunes beginning with the simplest passages and progressing to more difficult leaps, rhythms, chromatics, and modulations. The later books introduce two-part sight singing.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA masterful deconstruction of documentary techniques, with impressive original research. This book is recommended for everyone interested in how documentaries are made, especially students in film production and critical studies. * Mark Freeman, Professor Emeritus, School of Theatre, Television, and Film, San Diego State University *Jacob Brica's brilliant new book is a thoughtful and thorough exploration of the grammar of documentary. This is a must read --for filmmakers and viewers alike-- as Bricca deconstructs the tools and tricks of our trade. As someone who has been editing documentaries for years, I found that every word of this book rings true. * Kate Amend, ACE *Deftly combining practical experience and scholarly sources, How Documentaries Work is an ideal primer for introducing students to documentary practices and conventions...Essential. All readers. * Choice *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: RAW MATERIALS Verité Interviews Archival Reenactments and Animation Voiceover Narration Title Cards CHAPTER 2: MEANING Creating Meaning Within the Interview Frame Creating Visual Uniformity with Interviews Creating Meaning with Objects in the Frame Creating Meaning with Words Interview-As-Narration Creating Meaning with Verité Open vs. Closed Meanings CHAPTER 3: NARRATIVE The Setup Position The Crisis Moment Producing the Narrative Turn Producing the Narrative Turn with Juxtaposition Micro-Narratives Callbacks Non-Narrative Documentaries CHAPTER 4: PRESENCE FRAMING Observational Framing The Semi-Staged Scene The Participatory Frame Narration and the Participatory Frame Voice of God Narration Altering the Outcome The Reflexive Frame CHAPTER 5: FLOW Unifying with Sound Pivots and Pauses Juxtaposition Collective Memory CHAPTER 6: TIME The Experience of Time in Verité The Interleaving of Scenes Use of the Present Tense CHAPTER 7: TITLES Naming Characters Conferring Legitimacy Look and Feel Subtitles CHAPTER 8: ARCHIVAL Archival Treatments Manipulation of Newspaper Assets Historical Shorthand CHAPTER 9: SOUND Sweetening Foley Time and Space Framing Presence with Sound: The Cave & For Sama CHAPTER 10: MUSIC Fear of Music Film vs. Television Verité vs. Expository, Interviews vs. Archival Tone Procedural Music CONCLUSION The Brave New World of Hybridity in Documentary Acknowledgements Appendix: List of Films and Television Shows Cited

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Book SynopsisIt is often claimed that the French invented cinema. Dominating the production and distribution of cinema until World War 1, when they were supplanted by Hollywood, the French cinema industry encompassed all genres, from popular entertainment to avant-garde practice. The French invented the auteur and the ciné-club; they incubated criticism from the 1920s to our own day that is unrivalled; and they boast more film journals, fan magazines, TV shows, and festivals devoted to film than anywhere else. This Very Short Introduction opens up French cinema through focusing on some of its most notable works, using the lens of the New Wave decade (1958-1968) that changed cinema worldwide. Exploring the entire French cinematic oeuvre, Dudley Andrew teases out distinguishing themes, tendencies, and lineages, to bring what is most crucial about French Cinema into alignment. He discusses how style has shaped the look of female stars and film form alike, analysing the made up aesthetic of many films, and the paradoxical penchant for French cinema to cruelly unmask surface beauty in quests for authenticity. Discussing how French cinema as a whole pits strong-willed characters against auteurs with high-minded ideas of film art, funded by French cinema''s close rapport to literature, painting, and music, Dudley considers how the New Wave emerged from these struggles, becoming an emblem of ambition for cinema that persists today. He goes on to show how the values promulgated by the New Wave directors brought the three decades that preceded it into focus, and explores the deep resonance of those values today, fifty years later. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: The 'makeup' of French film and its demaquillage: Jeanne Moreau 2: The insurgency of the authentic and the regime of strong fathers : Jean Gabin 3: Renoir and Bresson: two incomparable sources 4: An intellectual cinema looks back to tradition and forward to the end of history 5: The school of the New Wave and the lessons it has taught Further reading Index

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Book SynopsisCinema has had a hugely influential role on global culture in the 20th century at multiple levels: social, political, and educational. The part of British cinema in this has been controversial - often derided as a whole, but also vigorously celebrated, especially in terms of specific films and film-makers. In this Very Short Introduction, Charles Barr considers films and filmmakers, and studios and sponsorship, against the wider view of changing artistic, socio-political, and industrial climates over the decades of the 20th Century. Considering British cinema in the wake of one of the most familiar of cinematic reference points - Alfred Hitchcock - Barr traces how British cinema has developed its own unique path, and has since been celebrated for its innovative approaches and distinctive artistic language.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewWriting with a graceful style and a quiet wit, Barr has made a valuable contribution to the increasing array of cinematic Very Short Introductions. * David Sterritt, Quarterly Review of Film and Video *It's a long time since I've read such a short book that seems so rich in content and offered so comprehensive and lucid approach to a complex phenomenon. This is a book for any intelligent non-specialist reader with an interest in British film. * Brian McFarlane, On Screen *An entertaining and very informative tour of British film history, starting from the silent days of course, but taking a more productive route than a simple chronological tour. * Pamela Hutchison, Silent London *This short introduction is...a shrewd one... it informs and also inspires. * Graham McCann, Former Fellow of King's College, University of Cambridge *Not the least among this small book's many pleasures are its lucid, nuanced prose style and the elegant manner in which thematic threads are teased out and followed through ... it is a sensitive, sensible, and sharply perceptive introduction that will be welcomed by students new to the field, while those who think they know everything about the subject already will find some fresh observations. * Sheldon Hall, Hitchcock Annual *It guides and galvanises; it informs and also inspires. As a starting point for an inquisitive student,... it soon earns ample respect for its selectiveness, as well as appreciation for the additional lines of inquiry that it suggests. * Graham McCann, Society *British Cinema: A Very Short Introduction, despite its format as a pocket guide, offers considerably more than its slender size promises. It will be of particular value to students and to general readers approaching British cinema history for the first time, and it is pleasing that the appendices include a solid section of recommended further reading. * James Shelton, Journal of British Cinema and Television 21.1 *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations 1: Britain and Cinema 2: Varieties of Britishness 3: A very short history 4: 1933 and after 5: The war and after 6: Ealing and after 7: Chariots and after 8: Looking back, looking forward References Further Reading General Index Index of Names

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Veteran art critic Hickey delivers another poignant and masterful collection of essays. In each selection, he critically and humorously contemplates cultural zeitgeists and the essence of good art in music, books, paintings, and architecture. His razor-sharp insight and witty prose make for an entertaining read. . . . While his prose is charming and at times aphoristic, Hickey is always serious when challenging the status quo or defending the cultural innovators who, in his view, have realized art’s potential as a medium for beauty, democracy, and unabashed self-expression." * Publishers Weekly *"He remains one of the finest American cultural critics, for he opens his own pleasures to appreciative scrutiny and collective relish." * PopMatters *Table of ContentsBaby Breakers Cool on Cool: William Claxton’s World “Goodbye to Love” Wonderful Shoes A World like Santa Barbara It’s Morning in Nevada: On the Campaign Trail in Post-Bush America My Silk Road The Last MouseketeerAfter the Prom Firecrackers: Terry Castle Celebrates Her Independence¡Una Lesbiana Enamorada! Susan Sontag His Mickey Mouse Ways Mitchum Gets Out of Jail The Real Michelangelo Reading Ruskin Writing Palladio’s Song Morris Lapidus: Life as We Know It Art Fairies Little Victories

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"With a keen ear attuned to both musical and historical salience, Kinderman reveals the animating presence of the political in almost every aspect of Beethoven's life, his work, and his legacy. In doing so, he illuminates the crucial context from which to assess Beethoven's astonishing achievement of a moral ideal that has resounded from the Age of Revolution to our own times."--Scott Burnham, City University of New York "Kinderman has written a fresh and fascinating book packed with intriguing thoughts and unexpected alignments about how Beethoven's politics translated themselves into Beethoven's music. This is a book that awakens the reader not only with its content, but with the love and enthusiasm of its author."--Patrick Summers, artistic and music director, Houston Grand Opera "This book is a timely contribution to the current trend towards interpreting art primarily in political terms. Placing his aesthetic commentary in a well-grounded biographical and historical context, Kinderman illuminates the political aspects of Beethoven's life and outlook. He goes on to discuss the ways in which a number of Beethoven's important works reflect the composer's lifelong belief in freedom and progress as both personal and universal values."--Lewis Lockwood, author of 'Beethoven: The Music and the Life'Table of ContentsPreface I. A Tale of Two Cities: Bonn to Vienna II. The Sublime and Inverted Sublime III. Beethoven in Heiligenstadt IV. Path to the Eroica V. Leonore as “Angel of Freedom” VI. From Grätz to Wagram and Leipzig VII. A Double Chill: Beethoven in Metternich’s Vienna VIII. Then and Now: The Ninth Symphony Acknowledgments List of Illustrations and Examples Note about Abbreviations Sources and Documents Index

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisAnthony Breznican is the senior Hollywood correspondent for Vanity Fair and has covered the Marvel Cinematic Universe since its inception. He has also worked for USA Today, Entertainment Weekly and The Associated Press.Amy Ratcliffe is the managing editor of Nerdist, author of Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy and The Jedi Mind, and contributor to From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back. She is a host at Star Wars Celebration as well as a regular contributor to StarWars.com and Star Wars Insider.Rebecca Theodore-Vachon is the entertainment columnist at TheUrbanDaily.com and has contributed to NYTimes.com, InStyle, The Undefeated, RogerEbert.com, Entertainment Weekly, Fast Company and Vulture.com.

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Book SynopsisSit back, relax, and relive the memories of over 90 more classic albums selected by Tim Burgess from his legendary Listening PartiesIn less than 2 years, tens of thousands of music lovers have pressed play at the same time as legendary musicians to share the communal experience of a Listening Party. Over 1,000 online events, fans and artists – from McCartney to Blondie, Joy Division to Iron Maiden – have shared insightful recollections, intimate conversations and behind-the-scenes revelations. This follow-up to the bestselling The Listening Party Volume 1 gathers together over 90 more of the most essential parties and celebrates the unique power of a Listening Party to connect music creators with listeners. It’s an appropriate tribute to the unifying power of music and how it continues to enthrall millions around the world every single day. Hey Twitter, let's all say a big thanks to Tim for these brilliant events this year! We r

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Book SynopsisFROM THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ABOUT A BOY 31 Songs is best-selling author Nicky Hornby''s ultimate desert island disksThrough thirty-one songs that he either loves or has loved, Nick Hornby tells us what music means to his life. These personal and passionate pieces - refreshingly free of pretension - are a celebration of the joy that certain songs have given him. Together with additional writings on music from his column in the new Yorker - seen in the UK for the first time - 31 Songs is for Hornby what many of us have always wanted: a soundtrack to accompany life.Winner of The National Book Critics Circle award, this funny and touchingly personal book is a must for music fans everywhere.''Original, well written and wholly lacking in pretension...as good a book about pop music as I have read in many years and the most accomplished of Hornby''s books so far'' Spectator''Funny

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Playing with Fire is a ground-breaking work—a phenomenal biography of a towering human spirit of everlasting relevance.”—Norman Lebrecht, Wall Street Journal“Wilson, a Moscow-trained cellist and biographer of Shostakovich, has found details of, it seems, every concerto, every appearance, every job Yudina did.”—John Lloyd, Financial Times“As this fascinating book shows, the real story of Yudina is more moving and extraordinary than any of the myths.”—Ivan Hewett, Daily Telegraph“The author of biographies of Shostakovich and Rostropovich turns her attention to the great Soviet pianist Maria Yudina (1899–1970), famous for eccentricity and moral courage. Wilson emphasizes Yudina’s passionate intellectual life; a disciple of Bakhtin, . . . she was as interested in philosophy as she was in music.”—New Yorker“Wilson illuminates the life of one of twentieth-century Russia’s most brilliant pianists and uncompromising individuals. . . . Through her meticulous research, Wilson disabuses us of the many legends that surround Yudina’s peculiar character.”—Nadia Beard, Times Literary Supplement“Wilson, a musician and writer who authored a fine book on Dmitri Shostakovich, has now produced the first English-language biography of Maria Yudina, one of Russia’s greatest twentieth-century pianists. Her study gains strength from its vivid reconstruction of the classical music scene under Soviet rule.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times, “Best Summer Books of 2022: History”“The author is extremely well placed to narrate Yudina’s life and provide some insight into her art. . . . Reading a biography of her as thorough and informed as Playing with Fire, one grows ever more incredulous that she survived so long and went on performing until very near the end of her life.”—Michael Tanner, Spectator“An insight into the agony of intellectual life under [Stalin’s] rule”—Sophie Roell, Five Books, “Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022”“An adroit and revealing narrative of [Maria] Yudina’s life”—Michael Prodger, New Statesman“Wilson follows Yudina carefully from her birth in what is now Belarus to her death in Moscow in 1970. The threads of her life interweave to illustrate not only an astonishing career, but also aspects of Russian life and culture before and during the Soviet era. . . . Clearly, this book is filled with dramatic experiences and detail, but Wilson’s craft as a storyteller ensures that it is a captivating read.”—Vin Arthey, The Scotsman“This book is filled with dramatic experiences and detail, but Wilson's craft as a storyteller ensures that it is a captivating read.”—Vin Arthey, Yorkshire Post“Clearly and unpretentiously written, with sensitive but never blindly hagiographic appreciations of Yudina’s recordings. Where they were dissenting voices about the quality of Yudina’s playing or teaching, she does not hesitate to report them. The text is also studded with fascinating asides.”—David Fanning, Gramophone“This most satisfying biography and appreciation of one of the twentieth-century’s greatest pianists brims over with facts, anecdotes and observations. It’s both an invaluable document and an absorbing and stimulating read. . . . It is surely definitive.”—Stephen Greenbank, MusicWeb International“A brilliant pianist closely connected with the leading lights of 20th-century Russian music, literature and philosophy, Maria Yudina was a seminal figure whose devout religious beliefs brought her into direct collision with the Soviet state. Elizabeth Wilson's great achievement is to have brought Yudina's extraordinary life out of the shadows. With this revelatory biography she takes us deep into the heart of Russian artistic genius at its most passionate and uncompromising.”—Rosamund Bartlett, author of Chekhov Scenes from a Life and Tolstoy: A Russian Life “Maria Yudina, one of the great pianists of the 20th century, reached cult status in the USSR, but is still little known abroad. This fascinating biography by Elizabeth Wilson, combining scholarly erudition and captivating storytelling, not only fills this gap but reads like a powerful Russian novel!”—Mikhail Rudy, award-winning concert pianist “So much more than a great and deeply unusual pianist, Maria Yudina was at once mystic and visionary, a pioneer of modernism and a tremendous friend to those who loved her. Few writers and musicians in the English-speaking world are better placed than Elizabeth Wilson to tell the story of this mysterious and far too little-known 20th century musician. And the story is a revelation.”—Gerard McBurney, composer and writer “An engaging read that tells the story of Russia’s preeminent pianist of the 20th century in lucid and approachable language, this long-needed book illuminates Maria Yudina’s work and life through recollections of her contemporaries and considerable archival research.”—Elena Dubinets, Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra “Presents an absorbing picture of a tragic period of Russian history. At its center is the towering figure of Maria Yudina, a remarkable pianist and one of the most influential personalities of Soviet cultural life. A riveting read.”—Boris Berman, Head of Piano, Yale University School of Music

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Book SynopsisThe lost memoir of Britain’s first Black Olympic medal winner—and the America he discoveredTrade Review“A fascinating historical document, Harry Edward had a sharp eye and an ever-busy pen. Unfailingly frank, humorous, always dignified and empathetic, Edward describes a world in flux, as seen by a Black hero no-one really knows about – and everyone should.”—Hugh Muir, Writer and Editor at the Guardian “The celebration of Britain’s first Black Olympic medallist would merit its own narrative, but that was just the beginning of Harry Edward’s race through life. His story deserves to be told and his experiences should remind us all that we are all equal both in and out of the sporting arena.”—Steve Cram, British Track and Field Athlete “Harry was empowered by his Olympic experience and truly lived the Olympic values. He fought injustice and for inclusion wherever he went. His story is an inspiration to us all and is as relevant today as it was fifty years ago.”—Joël Bouzou OLY, World Olympic Association President “Harry Edward tells the story of a man who fought for justice in the United States – and the world over. His was truly an Olympic spirit.”—Katherine Mooney, author of Isaac Murphy “Such a beautiful, engaging, fascinating book – and to think we had it here at the Amistad Research Center all this time. When I Passed the Statue of Liberty I Became Black is a wonderful contribution to the fields of sports and history. Kudos to Neil Duncanson for getting this memoir out into the world where it belongs.”—Lisa Moore, Amistad Research Center

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Book SynopsisIn The Heart of Rock & Soul, veteran rock critic Dave Marsh offers a polemical guide to the 1,001 greatest rock and soul singles ever made, encompassing rock, metal, R&B, disco, folk, funk, punk, reggae, rap, soul, country, and any other music that has made a difference over the past fifty years. The illuminating essays,complete with music history, social commentary, and personal appraisals,double as a mini-history of popular music. Here you will find singles by artists as wide-ranging as Aretha Franklin, George Jones, Roy Orbison, the Sex Pistols, Madonna, Run-D.M.C., and Van Halen. Featuring a new preface that covers the hits,and misses,of the''90s, The Heart of Rock & Soul remains as provocative, passionate, and timeless as the music it praises.

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Book SynopsisFrancis Davis''s The History of the Blues is a ground-breaking rethinking of the blues that fearlessly examines how race relations have altered perceptions of the music. Tracing its origins from the Mississippi Delta to its amplification in Chicago right after World War II, Davis argues for an examination of the blues in its own right, not just as a precursor to jazz and rock''n'' roll. The lives of major figures such as Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, and Leadbelly, in addition to contemporary artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray, are examined and skillfully woven into a riveting, provocative narrative.

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Book SynopsisDave van ronk (1936-2002) was not only one of the founding figures of the 1960s folk music revival he was a pioneer of modern acoustic blues, a fine songwriter and arranger, a powerful singer, and one of the most influential guitarists of his era. He was also a marvellous storyteller, a peerless musical historian, and one of the most quotable figures in The Village. The Mayor of MacDougal Street is a unique firsthand account of the sixties folk scene that includes encounters with young stars-to-be like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and older luminaries like Woody Guthrie and Odetta. colourful, hilarious, and engaging, The Mayor of MacDougal Street will appeal not only to folk and blues fans but also to anyone interested in the music, politics, and spirit of a revolutionary period in American culture.

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Book SynopsisMinistry is a memoir both ugly and captivating, revealing Al Jourgensen as a man who lived a hard life his own way without making compromises. He survived prolonged drug addiction -- twenty-two years of chronic heroin, cocaine, and alcohol abuse, to be more precise -- before cleaning up, straightening out, and finding new reasons to live. During his career, Jourgensen has engaged in all of the rock ''n'' roll clich''s regarding decadence and debauchery and invented new forms of previously unachieved nihilism. Despite this and his addictions, he created seven seminal albums, including the bonafide, hugely influential classic The Land of Rape and Honey, 1989''s The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste, and 1992''s blockbuster Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed.Ministry imparts the epic life of Al Jourgensen, a survivor who tempted fate, beat the odds, persevered, and put the pieces back together after unraveling completely.Trade ReviewUnder the Radar, Spring 2013 "In the colorful and often highly amusing anecdotes recounting his years as a musician, Jourgensen covers his time with Ministry and Revolting Cocks in high-flying detail." Revolver, June/July 2013 "A tale of outlandish debauchery and mayhem...Like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas crossed with The Dirt, it's both insanely compelling and compellingly insane." Texas Monthly, July 2013 "Jourgensen [is] poised to forever raise the bar on tales of rock star excess with a new memoir, Ministry...The book offers a laundry list of degenerate behavior and near-death experiences. But where most rock and roll biographies and memoirs end in the subject's demise or redemption, the arc of this one is a lot murkier." Examiner.com, 7/1/13 "One needn't be intimately familiar with Ministry's musical mayhem to enjoy Ministry...Entertaining, enlightening--even inspirational...A riotously revealing retrospective that cements Jourgensen's place in the modern rock lexicon while chronicling the decades-long descent into drug addiction that nearly cost the Ministry maverick his life." RollingStone.com, 7/8/13 "Ministry is charming and offputting all at once...Proof, if more was needed, that being a rock star, like playing professional contact sports, takes a permanent toll on its most dedicated practitioners." TheGauntlet.com, 7/19/13 "The book is both riveting and horrifying at the same time...No gory detail is left out as Al recounts the debauchery and extreme drug use that fueled his life. What sets Al's autobiography apart from others is he admits to every last bit of the shocking tragedy almost as if it were his final confession to a priest and he was trying to sneak into Heaven. Nobody said rock n' roll wasn't ugly." Dallas Observer, 7/16/13 "[A] harrowing tale of drugs, sex and, of course, rock 'n' roll, inspired by the artist who influenced a generation of musical pioneers like Nine Inch Nails to take metal to the next level." "Rock Star Radio Show," KCLB Radio (Palm Springs, CA), 7/18/13 "One of the best music based pieces of literature, or any literature, that I have set my eyes on. Read the book. You're going to love it." Intravenous Magazine (UK), 7/3/13 "A compelling read...Al is amusing and wry throughout and this is a real warts and all tale that has a jaw dropping fact or story on virtually every page...Even if you are not a fan of the music this is still a compulsive read...This really is not far off from the sort of biographical great American novels told by the likes of them, Jack Kerouac and Charles Bukowski...An absolute gem and a real treat of a book." Caught in the Carousel, 7/10/13 "What Ministry brings to light is Al's sense of humor and his rollicking way of spinning a yarn. In other words, the guy's hilarious--and Ministry provides a brilliant, dark comedic take on the very stuff that inspired Ministry's greatest albums...Al's book reads like a more accessible version of Burroughs' Junkie, Naked Lunch, and the 'Nova Trilogy'...His deadpan humor and smart philosophical and political insights (he's one of the most politically aware and truly progressive musicians on the planet) save the book from being a downer...Al's Ministry is so good that you'll just have to read it for yourself to have your side split and your thoughts provoked. Just go out and grab a copy!" The National (United Arab Emirates), 7/6/13 "A warts and all picture of life as one of the godfathers of the industrial rock scene...Where memoirs like Marilyn Manson's Long Hard Road Out Of Hell and Motley Crue's The Dirt pull their punches and gloss over the more graphic scenes, Jourgensen goes into heavy and often uncomfortable detail...Compulsive reading. Jourgensen is a great storyteller and the sheer insanity of his stories will no doubt keep people turning the pages. It is definitely up there with the likes of Iggy Pop's I Need More, Motley Crue's The Dirt and even William Burroughs' Junkie." The Weeklings, 7/20/13 "The most over-the-top, full-on decadent, absolute gonzo rock & roll biography ever." GenerationGBooks, 7/14/13 "I've said for many years now that I would find it difficult to find a music biography that would top Motley Crue's The Dirt. Consider it done." Billboard.com, 8/6/13 "[A] frank and revealing tome." HollywoodReporter.com, 8/16/13 "Al gives you all of the sleaze you could hope for and more in this harshly real book...they should pass this book out to kids instead of a 'D.A.R.E.' pamphlet or 'Just Say No' crap...The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen is ANOTHER homerun from the publishers Da Capo Press. They are becoming by far my favorite publishers of all books music! Too many of these autobiographies are nothing more than cash grabs filled with major errors, flawed editing and worse, it's great to see a publisher care as much about the reader as it does about their own wallets." Side-Line, 9/16/13 "An absolutely must-have for the fans of Ministry." Phoenix New Times, 9/23/13 "Any page you open up to ensures entertainment." CaughtintheCarousel.com, 9/20/13 "Quite simply one of the best rock autobiographies ever written." Washington Times, 9/5/13 "In the book, Jourgensen is brutally honest regarding his drug-fueled lifestyle, one that would make even Keith Richards cringe. His tale is as much shocking as it is cautionary." HighWireDaze.com, 10/5/13 "Al Jourgensen's story is a testament to the strangeness and beauty of the universe as well as an example of the human condition." "Few musicians have indulged in the sex, drugs and rock & roll lifestyle with such death-defying fervor--and over such a long period of time--as longtime Ministry leader Al Jourgensen. Now, his tale is on display for the whole world to read...A roller-coaster read. In addition to going behind the scenes for the creation of such industrial-metal classics as The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste and Psalm 69, Jourgensen dishes dirt on many renowned names whom he's crossed paths with throughout his career." MTV Hive, 7/10/13 "Just open the book and throw your finger on any given page, and you're liable to hit a sentence that makes you thank god you lived long enough on this planet to read something this batshit crazy...The most entertaining rock memoir I've ever read." Loudwire.com, 7/11/13 "The 'back-asswards' life of Ministry mastermind Al Jourgensen has finally been documented with incredible detail." USA Today (website), 7/8/13 "When it comes to sex, drugs and rock and roll, you just can't have too much of them, at least if you're reading about it. To live that lifestyle, a long one, is quite a feat, one that begs for a memoir, Ministry, in stores now." Examiner.com, 7/6/13 "It is a stark retelling of the musician's life, and no rock is left unturned...You will be appalled, shocked and disturbed, but you won't put this down until the last page." New Noise, 8/29/2013 "Horrific and nauseatingly awesome." BackstageAxxess.com, 8/25/13 "Al takes us on an exciting journey through his career in the music industry as he truly tells it all; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Jourgensen's tale is funny, frightening, and oftentimes disturbing as he offers frank accounts of the business side of the industry, his wild life on the road, and his personal battles with drug and alcohol abuse...You don't have to be a Ministry fan to enjoy this book...A very interesting read." Classic Rock (UK), October 2013 "[A] roaringly entertaining read." HeavyMetalICU.com, 9/13/13 "The man who refers to himself as 'Alien Jourgensen' is a really funny guy and this comes out in his recently released autobiography...He's a danger-level genius and whatever his demons may be, or may have been, he remains wonderfully entertaining as ever...His book has the makings of a great biopic." Record Collector, September 2013 "An intelligent take on the filthy rock underbelly...[It] pulls no punches...A brilliant read." MediaMikes.com, 8/19/13 "Take[s] you on a roller coaster ride of sex, drugs, drugs and even more drugs mixed with a sprinkling of rock and roll...This is not your typical tell all memoir as Al Jourgensen gives you that and then some...The book consisted of stories that were so far out there that they had to be true due to the fact that it would be hard for someone to make up some of these experiences and, be able tell them with the in-depth conviction Jourgensen does. The book keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you want more." South China Morning Post, 8/18/13 "You'll care if you're at all interested in first-hand encounters with a who's who of pop culture." Curled Up with a Good Book, 8/29/2013 "[An] unflinching account of his life and career...For someone who has lived his life as an open book, free of pretense and with complete apathy as to others' opinions of him, Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen still manages to surprise...Ministry's lone constant member tells it like he sees it with all the gory details dripping throughout...No stone unturned and no vein left untapped, Jourgensen recites events of a life lived (and ended a few times) to its unconscionable excesses in a funny, wildly entertaining, and gleefully repulsive memoir." Blogcritics.org, 7/9/13 "A rock and roll tale that is dirtier than that of Motley Crue's The Dirt...Open and honest...Fans of Ministry will undoubtedly snap this right up." The Front Row Report, 7/9/13 "[He] doesn't hold back one bit...Jourgensen digs down into the deepest, darkest crevices of his memory and presents us with a very blunt, honest and revealing trip through his life and career...The epitomic picture of the life of a rocker and artist and Jourgensen at his best. Any Ministry or metal fan will be captivated for hours and hours...and anyone who isn't familiar with Ministry or Jourgensen will find everything they need to know in this book." Ave Noctum, 7/8/13 John Shelton Ivany Top 21, Issue 432 "A memoir both ugly and captivating, revealing Al Jourgensen as a man who lived a hard life his own way without making compromises." WomanAroundTown.com, 10/26/13 "Not for the faint of heart...The producer/songwriter/ vocalist and guitarist tells his story unflinchingly; this may be difficult for more sensitive readers to stomach, but it is pure Al Jourgensen." Chicago Sun-Times, 12/26/2013 "It's almost impossible to believe this is a work of non-fiction. As Jourgensen's first official biography, the Ministry singer's torrid life is recapped in colorful and uncensored anecdotes of Timothy Leary experiments, near-death experiences, FBI raids and alien encounters, many of which are set against the background of Chicago in the glory days of the Wax Trax! industrial machine." BookNews.com, December 2013 "A unique memoir...Uncompromising gritty, sometimes brutal--this is an unflinching self-portrait of a 'cranky and rough' individual, full of anecdotes of drug abuse and touring life and meetings with iconic individuals like William S. Burroughs and Timothy Leary...Jourgensen's health battles, political involvement, personal rants, it's all here."

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Book SynopsisOver the course of its seven-year run, Buffy the Vampire Slayer cultivated a loyal fandom and featured a strong, complex female lead, at a time when such a character was a rarity. Evan Ross Katz explores the show''s cultural relevance through a book that is part oral history, part celebration, and part memoir of a personal fandom that has universal resonance still, decades later.Katz-with the help of the show''s cast, creators, and crew-reveals that although Buffy contributed to important conversations about gender, sexuality, and feminism, it was not free of internal strife, controversy, and shortcomings. Men-both on screen and off-would taint the show''s reputation as a feminist masterpiece, and changing networks, amongst other factors, would drastically alter the show''s tone.Katz addresses these issues and more, including interviews with stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield, Amber Benson, James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, Seth Green, Marc Blucas, Nicholas Brendon, Danny Strong, Tom Lenk, Bianca Lawson, Julie Benz, Clare Kramer, K. Todd Freeman, Sharon Ferguson; and writers Douglas Petrie, Jane Espenson, and Drew Z. Greenberg; as well as conversations with Buffy fanatics and friends of the cast including Stacey Abrams, Cynthia Erivo, Lee Pace, Claire Saffitz, Tavi Gevinson, and Selma Blair.Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born engages with the very notion of fandom, and the ways a show like Buffy can influence not only how we see the world but how we exist within it.

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Book Synopsis The woman behind the icon known as the undisputed Queen of Halloween, reveals her full story, filled with intimate bombshells, told by the bombshell herself. The paperback includes 32 new images and an original poem composed by Cassandra when she was 16, perfect for fans to collect. At only eighteen months old, Cassandra Peterson reached for a pot on the stove and doused herself in boiling water, resulting in third-degree burns over 35 percent of her body. She miraculously survived, but burned and scarred, the impact would stay with her and become an obstacle she was determined to overcome. Cassandra left home at fourteen and supported herself as a go-go dancer. By age seventeen, she was performing as a showgirl in Las Vegas. Then a chance encounter with the “King” himself, Elvis Presley, inspired her to travel to Europe where she worked in film and toured Italy as lead singer of a band. She eventually made her way to Los Angeles, where she joined the famed comedy improv group, The Groundlings. In 1981, as a struggling actress considered past her prime, Cassandra auditioned for a local LA station as hostess for their late-night horror movies. She got the job as “Elvira,” never imagining it would lead to fame and a forty-year career. Yours Cruelly, Elvira is an unforgettably wild memoir. Cassandra doesn’t shy away from revealing exactly who she is and how she overcame seemingly insurmountable odds. Always original and sometimes outrageous, her story is loaded with twists, travails, revelry, and downright shocking experiences. It is the candid, often hilarious, and sometimes heartbreaking tale of a Midwest farm girl’s long, strange trip to become the world’s sexiest, sassiest Halloween icon.  Instant New York Times Bestseller, Los Angeles Times Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller.  A New York Times Best Books to Give This Season selection.

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Book SynopsisTwo decades after the Sex Pistols and the Ramones birthed punk music into the world, their artistic heirs burst onto the scene and changed the genre forever. While the punk originators remained underground favorites and were slow burns commercially, their heirs shattered commercial expectations for the genre. In 1994, Green Day and The Offspring each released their third albums, and the results were astounding. Green Day''s Dookie went on to sell more than 15 million copies and The Offspring''s Smash remains the all-time bestselling album released on an independent label. The times had changed, and so had the music.While many books, articles, and documentaries focus on the rise of punk in the ''70s, few spend any substantial time on its resurgence in the ''90s. Smash! will be the first to do so, detailing the circumstances surrounding the shift in ''90s music culture away from grunge and legitimizing what many first-generation punks regard as post-punk, new wave, and

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Book Synopsis"The all-access autobiography of Bad Religion, a Southern Californian institution and one of the most influential and long-standing punk rock bands of all time In 1980, punk was declared dead in New York, done-for in London, banned in Hollywood. And yet just under the radar, the punk rock virus had continued to spread, slowly inching its way through the breezy beach towns of Southern California and into the edgier interior of East LA. Embraced by the skaters and surfers, and hated by just about everyone else, the LA punk scene ebbed and flowed in the early '80s, each wave ushering in an increasingly aggressive cycle of reformers. It was within this hotbed of deliberate dissonance, lyrical intensity, and untapped teen angst that Bad Religion was born. In Do What You Want, the legendary band tells us the story of their success in their own words, from jamming out in a 'hell hole-ish' garage in the 1980s to headlining sold-out festivals like Coachella, Lollapalooza, Riot Fest, and more. O

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Book SynopsisThe definitive New York Times bestselling biography of legendary musician, composer, and performer Leon Russell, who profoudly influenced George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, and the world of music as a whole.  Leon Russell is an icon, but somehow is still an underappreciated artist. He is spoken of in tones reserved not just for the most talented musicians, but also for the most complex and fascinating. His career is like a roadmap of music history, often intersecting with rock royalty like Bob Dylan, the Stones, and the Beatles. He started in the Fifties as a teenager touring with Jerry Lee Lewis, going on to play piano on records by such giants as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Phil Spector, and on hundreds of classic songs with major recording artists. Leon was Elton John’s idol, and Elton inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Leon also gets credit for altering Willie Nelson’s career, giving us the long-haired, pot-friendly Willie we all know and love today. In his prime, Leon filled stadiums on solo tours, and was an organizer/performer on both Joe Cocker’s revolutionary Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour and George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh. Leon also founded Shelter Records in 1969 with producer Denny Cordell, discovering and releasing the debut albums of Tom Petty, the Gap Band, Phoebe Snow, and J.J. Cale. Leon always assembled wildly diverse bands and performances, fostering creative and free atmospheres for musicians to live and work together. He brazenly challenged musical and social barriers. However, Russell also struggled with his demons, including substance abuse, severe depression, and a crippling stage fright that wreaked havoc on his psyche over the long haul and at times seemed to will himself into obscurity. Now, acclaimed author and founding member of Buffalo Tom, Bill Janovitz shines the spotlight on one of the most important music makers of the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisThis 'comprehensive and illuminating' biography of the Queen of Soul (USA Today) was hailed by Rolling Stone as 'a remarkably complex portrait of Aretha Franklin's music and her tumultuous life.'  Aretha Franklin began life as the golden daughter of a progressive and promiscuous Baptist preacher. Raised without her mother, she was a gospel prodigy who gave birth to two sons in her teens and left them and her native Detroit for New York, where she struggled to find her true voice. It was not until 1967, when a white Jewish producer insisted she return to her gospel-soul roots, that fame and fortune finally came via 'Respect' and a rapidfire string of hits. She continued to evolve for decades, amidst personal tragedy, surprise Grammy performances, and career reinventions. Again and again, Aretha stubbornly found a way to triumph over troubles, even as they continued to build. Her hold on the crown was tenacious, and in Respect, David Ritz gives us the definitive life of one of the greatest talents in all American culture.  Trade ReviewA remarkably complex portrait of Aretha Franklin's music and her tumultuous life. * Rolling Stone *An honest and genuinely respectful portrait of a true diva by a writer who feels the power of her art. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *Only someone who had the complete confidence and trust of Aretha's family and the elite of the Gospel and Rhythm and Blues communities could have gotten this story. An intimate and thorough account of this phenomenal woman's talent and life as only David Ritz could capture. * Tommy LiPuma, Grammy-winning producer *

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Book SynopsisLed Zeppelin All the Songs takes a deep dive into the innovative recording history of the one of the most influential rock bands of all time—covering every album and every track that Led Zeppelin has ever produced. More than fifty years after their first practice session in a London basement, Led Zeppelin continues to fascinate new generations of listeners. While their legendary backstage antics have been written about extensively in other books, Led Zeppelin All the Songs focuses on the music, detailing the musicianship and lyrical inspiration that helped each of the band's nine albums go platinum, including Led Zeppelin IV, which has been certified platinum 23 times and has sold more than 37 million copies worldwide. This book is filled with fascinating behind-the-scenes stories of life on the road and inside the recording studio. Fans will learn the meaning behind some of the band's classic lyrics, as well as the inspiration for all of their album covers, which instruments were used on every track, and the importance of contributions from engineers, sound technicians, producers, and other behind-the-scenes professionals who helped Led Zeppelin become one of the most popular bands of all time.

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