20th Century History

One of the most important and influential composers of the twentieth century, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was also a prolific and gifted writer. Besides producing diaries, short stories, dramas, reviews, and...

The powerful memoir of a young Jewish pianist who survived the war in Warsaw against all odds. 'You can learn more about human nature from this brief account of the...

The world has changed faster during the 20th century than ever before. All our previous assumptions about God, our social, economic and political structures, science and technology, and - by...

The story of dance music told by the people who made it happen This book is a tribute to the obsessives, the playboys, the musical eccentrics who founded the craft...

'I love this book!' SARAH CRACKNELL, SAINT ETIENNE 'Poignant and wonderfully warm' CATHY NEWMAN, CHANNEL 4 NEWS 'Shows us how music has the power to change everything' JUDE ROGERS It...

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Strange Trip and the publicist of the Grateful Dead, Dennis McNally, a riveting social history of everything that led up...

Percy Grainger (1882-1961) was a pianist, composer, ethnographer, essayist, and much more. The Australian-American musician aspired to the condition of a polymath, with strong interests in language, culture, ecology and...

The must-read memoir from the visionary figure behind Manchester's legendary music scene, from The Hacienda to The Warehouse Project. Tales From the Dance Floor is an electrifying journey into the...

Traces the life of the famous modern British composer, and looks at the production of each of his musicals

In 1940 Sergei Rachmaninoff, living in exile in America, broke his creative silence and composed a swan song to his Russian homeland. What happened in those final haunted years and...

Break out the flannel, scrunchies, and high-rise jeans and indulge in this nostalgic illustrated trip through the 1990s' most influential albums across all genres. In 501 Essential Albums of the...

'MAGNIFICENT!' CAITLIN MORAN 'A riveting read about a pop revolution hiding in plain sight' PETE PAPHIDES 'Very funny and very moving' JUDE ROGERS In 1984, pop came out of the...

'You will not find a more devoted, thorough, loving and surprising book on the life of Leonard Bernstein - the most extraordinary man of extraordinary talents. Read it.' Lauren Bacall...

Pierre Boulez is acknowledged as one of the most important composers in contemporary musical life. This collection explores his works, influence, reception and legacy, shedding new light on Boulez's music...

'MAGNIFICENT!' CAITLIN MORAN 'A riveting read about a pop revolution hiding in plain sight' PETE PAPHIDES 'Very funny and very moving' JUDE ROGERS In 1984, pop came out of the...

Volcanic Tongue presents the first ever collection of multi-award-winning author David Keenan's music writings. Keenan has been writing about music since publishing his first fanzine, inspired by The Pastels and...

Volcanic Tongue presents the first ever collection of multi-award-winning author David Keenan's music writings. Keenan has been writing about music since publishing his first fanzine, inspired by The Pastels and...

'My life has been written about over and over again, and that's mostly okay with me. Other people can talk about my life. Sometimes they'll get it right and sometimes...

Longlisted for the Penderyn Music Book Prize 'Unique, dreamlike and poetic. I loved it.' DEBSEY WYKES, SAINT ETIENNE AND DOLLY MIXTURE It is 1994. In a loft bedroom in North...

Written with exclusive full access to Virgil Thomson's papers, here is the first full-scale account of Thomson's experiences as a composer, influential critic, and gay man. This biography shows how...

The raucous memoir from pop's most influential producer Lady Gaga, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars, Miley Cyrus, the Barbie soundtrack. Behind some of the biggest musical moments in...

The story of music in this century is one of leave-takings. Traditional relationships with tonality, rhythm, form and sound have been left behind or radically reinterpreted. Western Europe has been...

The Eighties were about big ideas writ large - new money, new style, gender fluidity, gay pride, attritional politics, the 'special relationship', nuclear fear, AIDS, cocaine, ecstasy, tabloid royalty, the...

One of the music world's pre-eminent critics takes a fresh and much-needed look at the day Dylan "went electric" at the Newport Folk Festival, timed to coincide with the event's...

Gustav Mahler was born on 7 July 1860 in an insignificant outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He grew to become one of the greatest conductors and composers of his time,...

The powerful memoir of a young Jewish pianist who survived the war in Warsaw against all odds.'You can learn more about human nature from this brief account of the survival...

'A delight to read' Philip Pullman'Essential reading ... a genuine landmark publication' Tom ServiceA BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week'The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including...

When Tom Breihan launched his Stereogum column in early 2018, "The Number Ones"-a space in which he has been writing about every #1 hit in the history of the Billboard...