Two centuries have passed since Chopin's birth, yet his legacy is all around us today. The quiet revolution he wrought influenced the development of Western music profoundly, and he is still probably the most widely studied and revered composer. For many, he is the object of a cult. Yet most people know little of his life, of the man, his thoughts and his feelings; his public image is a sugary blur of sentimentality and melodrama. Adam Zamoyski cuts through the myths and legends to tell the story of Chopin's life, and to reveal all that can be discovered about him as a person. He pays particular attention to recent revelations about the composer's health, and places him within the intellectual and spiritual environment of his day.

    He also gives the definitive account in English of the dominant figure in this story, the Polish freedom fighter and strongman Jozef Pilsudski, whose admirers included Poland's Jews and Adolf Hitler.

    Short essays cover subjects like Polish hospitality, holiday traditions, even the exalted status of the mushroom. The recipes are traditional family fare.

    Tales of curious marriages and divorce mingle with psychic experiences and curses, acts of bravery and loneliness, love and hatred.

    The book description for the previously published Polish Society Under German Occupation: The Generalgouvernement, 1939-1944 is not yet available.