Showing titles in History & Criticism

*The inspiration for the CNN original series Vegas: The Story of Sin City* “Outstanding pop-culture history.” —Newsday The “smart and zippy account” (The Wall Street Journal) of how Las Vegas saved Elvis and Elvis saved Las Vegas in the greatest musical comeback of all time. Elvis’s...

This audiobook takes the listener on a grand musical tour from its origins in prehistory to the 21st century. It describes its roles in culture and religion in ancient China and the Middle East and how it developed in the Mediterranean world of classical Greece and Rome. Andrew Gant considers the evolution of music in medieval Europe and looks at what led to the astonishing revolution of musical forms and genres that took place in the Renaissance, first in Italy and then across the rest of Europe. 

In 2020, guitar expert John Stubbings released a limited-edition book on the American acoustic guitar that sold out in days. Now, The Devil Is in It returns with additional research and subject matter for a new generation of listeners. Stubbings traveled the country and met with guitar makers, players, collectors, and historians to unravel the long and rich history of the acoustic guitar, its evolution, and the music it has made over the last hundred years.

Country music has long been a marker of American identity; from our popular culture to our politics, it has provided a soundtrack to our national life. While traditionally associated with the working class, country's appeal is far broader than any other popular music style. While this music rose from the people, it is also a product of the popular music industry, and the way the music has been marketed to its audience is a key part of its story. 

There have been few times in modern music history that an instant shift in how we listen to - and view - music has occurred. However, the launch of MTV on August 1, 1981, was certainly one such occurrence. Instantly, music fans were now “listening with their eyes” rather than relying solely on their ears.

Award-winning civil rights historian Ray Arsenault describes the dramatic story behind Marian Anderson’s concert at the Lincoln Memorial - an early milestone in civil rights history - on the 70th anniversary of her performance. On Easter Sunday 1939, the brilliant vocalist Marian Anderson sang before a throng of 75,000 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington - an electrifying moment and an underappreciated milestone in civil rights history.

In this enlightening and entertaining book, experience the evolution of country music, from the 1970s Appalachian hillbilly chitlin' circuit to the 1980s country music boom that paved the way for modern Americana. In a dim clearing off a county road in Kentucky sits a sagging outdoor stage...

Known as opera’s “disrupter-in-residence,” director Yuval Sharon has never adhered to the art form’s conventions. In his many productions in both the United States and Europe, he constantly challenges the perception of opera as aloof by urging, among other things: performing operas in “non-places,” such as parking lots; encouraging the use of amplification; and shuffling the traditional structure of classic works, like performing Puccini’s La bohème in reverse order, ending not with the tubercular heroine Mimi’s death but with her first falling in love.

Craze is a journey into sound, a book which along the way will bring to you a new colour; new dimension; a new understanding of the cultural, technological, and chemical strands that led to the Electronic Music Revolution. Take a trip down rave memory lane into Sydney’s early warehouse scene and explore the forging of a global cultural phenomenon. Re-live the Second Summer of Love from the unique Australian perspective of its farthest flung outpost.

Springsteen Fandom: "A Lifetime Conversation" explores the experience of the Bruce Springsteen musical fandom as a mutual exchange between artist and audience. Choosing significant stops of the Springsteen and E Street Band 2023 Tour as a narrative guideline, the book presents a thorough...

How a Quartet of American Musicians Outwitted the KGB – The Untold History of a Daring Cold War Spy Mission In 1985, while the United States engaged in a battle of nuclear brinkmanship, four Americans landed in Moscow on a mission to smuggle secret information in and out using music as their...

Dieser Pop-Split stellt den Titel Bitter Sweet Symphony vor und erklärt, weshalb man von seiner eigenen kreativen Leistung am Ende oft nichts hat...

Der Titel ist Teil des Pop-Splits "Rock Bizz - 21 Geschichten zu Geld und Ruhm".

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize Winner of a Certificate of Merit from the 2025 ARSC Awards for Excellence A New Yorker, GQ, The Daily Telegraph (London), and Library Journal Best Book of 2025 A 2025 Washington Post Notable Nonfiction An NPR...

World renowned Beatles experts provide groundbreaking insights into the Fab Four’s artistry, from Please Please Me to the incredible heights of Rubber Soul and Revolver. Dive into the songwriting, musicianship, and production of some of the most influential popular music ever created. In this...

El célebre tenor Ian Bostridge pasó casi dos años sin poder pisar los escenarios a causa de la pandemia, hecho que lo llevó a reflexionar sobre el valor irrenunciable del contacto directo con el público, a la vez que le permitió ahondar en el amplio catálogo de clásicos que ha interpretado a lo largo de su carrera.

For more than 20 years, music critic Bernard Holland reviewed the most celebrated artists of the 20th century. He reported both sides of the culture war between an honored past and radical change. Throughout his writings, Holland discusses what classical music really is, destroys the myth of high and low art, and defines the job of the music critic. Along the way, the listener will chat with Herbert von Karajan, take a plane trip with Yo-Yo Ma, and walk the slow walk with Robert Wilson.

During fifty years of publishing the “Bible of Rock and Roll,” Jann Wenner recorded a series of interviews that are now regarded among the most important historical documents of rock. From the hubris and pissed-off attitude of Pete Townshend, to the volcano that was John Lennon after the...

Taking listeners inside the songwriting mecca of Nashville’s Music Row for the real stories behind country’s most influential songs—and featuring exclusive interviews with songwriters like Vince Gill, Clint Black, Buddy Cannon, Jelly Roll, and Taylor Swift co-writer Liz Rose—Songs of Nashville gives you a front-row seat to the lives and work of the artists who’ve shaped country music.

Bloomsbury presents Trip-Hop by RJ Wheaton, read by Adam Sims. Trip-hop described some of the 1990s’ best music, and it was one of the decade’s most revealing bad ideas. This book chronicles the music and its leading artists, packed with recommended listening, essential tracks, great remixes...

He was the King of Rockabilly, and one of rock and roll's true pioneers. A groundbreaking guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Carl Perkins inspired countless musicians in country, rock, and pop music. Now acclaimed music writer Jeff Apter recounts Carl Perkins's remarkable life story—the triumphs, tragedies, and career highlights that include some of the most pivotal moments in music history.