Chopin

A completely new edition of the definitive biography of Chopin, unavailable for many years, by one of the finest of contemporary European historians.

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.

Reviews

Praise for ‘1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow’:

‘So brilliant that it is impossible to put the book aside…a master craftsman at work’ Michael Burleigh, Sunday Times

‘A brilliant piece of narrative history, full of sparkling set-pieces’ T.J. Binyon, Sunday Telegraph

‘One of the greatest stories ever told’ Spectator

Praise for ‘Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna’

‘Outstanding – a delicious, triumphant feast of a book’ Simon Sebag Montefiore, Daily Mail

‘Magnificent…both an intellectual and literary joy to read’ The Times

About the author

Adam Zamoyski was born in New York, was educated at Oxford, and lives in London. A full-time writer, his books include ‘Paderewski’, ‘The Last King of Poland’,‘1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow’, which was a Sunday Times bestseller, and ‘Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna’. He is married to the painter Emma Sergeant.