How are conductors' silent gestures magicked into sound by a group of more than a hundred brilliant but belligerent musicians? The mute choreography of great conductors has fascinated and frustrated musicians and music-lovers for centuries. Orchestras can be inspired to the heights of musical and expressive possibility by their maestros, or flabbergasted that someone who doesn't even make a sound should be elevated to demigod-like status by the public.This is the first book to go in...

Based on his critically-acclaimed BBC Radio 3 programme The Listening Service, in which Tom Service takes an idea on an ear-opening and mind-expanding walk through the musical landscape every week, this book is a celebration of music's multi-dimensional power in our lives. With 101 short chapters based on the programmes and grouped thematically the book will open ears and imaginations to find answers to the questions we all have about why and how music - from Toots and the Maytals and J S ...

Explore how music has changed our world through 50 pieces across classical, folk and world traditions with BBC presenter Tom Service, in this official Radio 3 compendium.Music transports us and defines us. As a form of expression, it has been passed down through oral tradition, musical notation and recordings in a chain of connection that spans the globe, across the millennia. A History of the World in 50 Pieces follows that chain, collating 50 pieces of c...

An unprecedented glimpse into the creative mind and influences of one of the most intriguing and successful contemporary composers and conductors."A brilliant self-analytical plunge into the mind of one of our greatest artists. . . . This book is a probing guide to the creative process, as virtuosic in its way as one of Adès's musical compositions." ―Peter Gelb, general manager, Metropolitan OperaComposer, conductor, and pianist, Thomas Adè...

**Brought to you by Penguin.Explore how music has changed our world through 50 pieces across classical, folk and world traditions with BBC presenter Tom Service, in this official Radio 3 compendium.**Music transports us and defines us. As a form of expression, it has been passed down through oral tradition, musical notation and recordings in a chain of connection that spans the globe, across the millennia. A History of the World in 50 Pieces follows that chain, col...

Brought to you by Penguin.We tend to think that everything important comes from the centre: from big cities, from established orthodoxies in the sciences and the arts, from the Establishment in all its forms. We think this because the centre tells us it is so, but it's a lie. It is only at the edges that we think, innovate and thrive.This book travels to the frontiers of human culture and consciousness; to the edges of continents, of evolution, of artistic ...

Graham Robb takes readers on a time-traveling adventure around the “spindly, sea-wracked island” he calls home.Interweaving personal and historical narratives and making use of contemporary sources, Graham Robb’s lively exploration of Britain through the ages peels back the layers of this island nation and shows how it came to be. We follow Robb as he travels along the warpaths of long-forgotten kings, under the chalk ramparts and grassy folds of ancient hill-towns...

Join acclaimed travel writer and incurably curious hiker Tom Chesshyre in this celebration of the Peak District, Britain’s first National Park, on its 75th anniversary'Funny, fair and honest, and effortlessly readable' Matthew ParrisIn the heart of England lies a fascinating landscape of rugged dark gritstone plateaus and gentle green limestone valleys: the Peak District. But this national treasure hasn’t always been open to all.On ...

**Brought to you by Penguin.The fascinating new history of the British Aristocracy since the Second World War**There are fewer than 5000 people who can genuinely claim to be members of the British aristocracy, and yet they loom large in the popular consciousness. We're fascinated by their houses and estates, their lives and loves, their foibles and eccentricities. And we entertain the strong suspicion that, while they may be fellow citizens, they are very far from being Peo...

For the 100th anniversary of the publication of "Winnie-the-Pooh," Gyles Brandreth chronicles the writing of this beloved classic and the life of its creator, A. A. Milne. This program is read by the author.Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear tells the remarkable story of A A Milne, a playwright, a bestselling crime writer, poet, polemicist, humorist, and the man who created Winnie-the-Pooh.Gyles Brandreth explores "Winnie-the-Pooh," a bear beloved by millions: his...

Brought to you by Penguin.‘I like to talk about wine the way normal humans talk about things they love – it’s not about showing off how many fancy wine terms I know. The point is to share something I love with someone else in a way that makes them want to love it too.’Thirsty is the story of Tom Gilbey (The Wine Guy) and his life in wine, a celebration of the bleedin’ beautiful people who make it, and a history of his family’s love...

Brought to you by Penguin.In the summer of 1940, Britain was under siege. Poland, Belgium, Holland, Norway and France had already fallen, and the British army had been routed on the continent, leading to the chaotic evacuation at Dunkirk.In the rubble of the Allie’s crumbled defence, Inverailort House was established as a new symbol of defiance. Signed off by Churchill himself, this austere building became an academy for the brightest and best of all Allied...