SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2023

‘Profoundly moving.’ EDMUND DE WAAL
‘A work of searching scholarship, acute critical observation, philosophical heft, and deep feeling.’ ALEX ROSS
‘A rare book: extraordinarily powerful – magisterial, meticulously rich and unexpected, deeply affecting and human.’ PHILIPPE SANDS

A remarkable and stirring account of how music acts as a witness to history and a medium of cultural memory in the post-Holocaust world.

When it comes to how societies commemorate their own distant dreams and catastrophes, we often think of books, archives, or memorials carved from stone. But in Time’s Echo, Jeremy Eichler makes a revelatory case for the power of music as culture’s memory, an art form uniquely capable of carrying forward meaning from the past.

Eichler shows how four towering composers – Richard Strauss, Arnold Schoenberg, Benjamin Britten and Dmitri Shostakovich – lived through the era of the Second World War and the Holocaust and later transformed their experiences into deeply moving works of music, scores that carry forward the echoes of lost time. A lyrical narrative full of insight and compassion, this book deepens how we think about the legacies of war, the presence of the past, and the profound possibilities of art in our lives today.

Read more

From traditional favourites to modern country dances, these 100 Favourite Ceilidh Dances are bound to get your blood pumping. The book includes easy to follow instructions and diagrams, a brief history of Scottish country dancing, and information about the origins of each dance.

Beginners will be expert country dancers in no time, and experts will return again and again to share and call their favourite dances.

Read more

Packed with memorabilia and anecdotes from the Twisted Wheel in Manchester to the mighty Wigan Casino, The Story of Northern Soul is the definitive history of the Northern Soul scene.

What began as an underground 60s Mod scene in unlicensed, no-frills clubs in the North West of England became a youth craze that has long surpassed all others. The Northern Soul scene has confounded its critics by surviving and growing into an adult dance phenomenon whose followers share a passion for the music of Black America unrivalled anywhere else in the world. The Story of Northern Soul takes the first ever in-depth look at the culture, the music, the artists and the people frequenting the all-night venues which are synonymous with the British Soul Scene. Packed with memorabilia and anecdotes from the Twisted Wheel in Manchester to the mighty Wigan Casino, The Story of Northern Soul is the definitive history of a dance scene that refuses to die.

Read more

Read more

Twenty-five years since acid house and Ecstasy revolutionized pop culture, Simon Reynolds’s landmark rave history Energy Flash has been expanded and updated to cover twenty-first-century developments like dubstep and EDM’s recent takeover of America.

Author of the acclaimed postpunk history Rip It Up and Start Again, Reynolds became a rave convert in the early nineties. He experienced first-hand the scene’s drug-fuelled rollercoaster of euphoria and darkness. He danced at Castlemorton, the illegal 1992 mega-rave that sent spasms of anxiety through the Establishment and resulted in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill. Mixing personal reminiscence with interviews and ultra-vivid description of the underground’s ever-changing sounds as they mutated under the influence of MDMA and other drugs, Energy Flash is the definitive chronicle of electronic dance culture.

From rave’s origins in Chicago house and Detroit techno, through Ibiza, Madchester and the anarchic free-party scene, to the pirate-radio underworld of jungle and UK garage, and then onto 2000s-shaping genres such as grime and electro, Reynolds documents with authority, insight and infectious enthusiasm the tracks, DJs, producers and promoters that soundtracked a generation. A substantial final section, added for this new Faber edition, brings the book right up to date, covering dubstep’s explosive rise to mass popularity and America’s recent but ardent embrace of rave. Packed with interviews with participants and charismatic innovators like Derrick May, Goldie and Aphex Twin, Energy Flash is an infinitely entertaining and essential history of dance music.

Read more

‘A deep, engrossing history’ The Observer
‘A fascinating deep dive’ Jeremy Deller

From the illicit reggae blues dances and acid-rock free festivals of the 1970s, through the ecstasy-fuelled Second Summer of Love in 1988, to the increasingly corporate dance music culture of the post-Covid era, Party Lines is a groundbreaking new history of UK dance music, exploring its pivotal role in the social, political and economic shifts on which modern Britain has been built.

Taking in the Victorian moralism of the Thatcher years, the far-reaching restrictions of the Criminal Justice Act in 1994, and the resurgence of illegal raves during the Covid-19 pandemic, Party Lines charts an ongoing conflict, fought in basement clubs, abandoned warehouses and sunlit fields, between the revolutionary potential of communal sound and the reactionary impulses of the British establishment. Brought to life with stunning clarity and depth, this is social and cultural history at its most immersive, vital and shocking.

____

‘Excellent’ The Sunday Times
‘Reminds us why the dance floor matters . . . fascinating’ Telegraph

Read more

Travel the world exploring the cities that have influenced dance music and DJ culture and discovering the cutting-edge scenes taking club culture in new directions.

Featuring incredible photography, insider recommendations, and some of the biggest names in dance music, Destination Dancefloor reveals how DJ culture swept the globe and 40 cities where you can immerse yourself in the best electronic music culture has to offer.

Whether you want to know more about the start of house music in Chicago, the club that started Berlin on the road to becoming the global epicentre of club culture, the French Touch scene in Paris that influenced the early years of Daft Punk, why Ibiza became the world’s summer party destination of choice, or are looking for new destinations to add to your own clubbing bucket list, this unique book leans on Mixmag’s position and expertise as one of the foremost names in club culture to present an overview of global dance music, making it a must-read for all clubbers, past, present, and future. See you on the dancefloor.

Read more

An epic journey through sea shanties, high tides and seven seas

From the international bestselling singer comes The Book of Sea Shanties.

The world sang in harmony with Nathan Evans, the Glaswegian postie turned singer of sea shanties. Join him as he takes you through time and seafaring history to discover the true meaning of Wellerman, and who and what exactly was the Drunken Sailor?

Featuring over 35 best loved shanties, Nathan will share the meaning behind each of his favourite shanties and show how they have shaped and inspired him. Beautifully illustrated throughout, it will also include original shanties and bonus content written exclusively for this book.

Whether you’re young or old, gather around and discover the riotous world of sea shanties.

Praise for Nathan Evans:

A ‘Sea Shanty sensation’ Rolling Stone

‘An artist who really lifts the mood when he performs’ Daily Telegraph

‘Too good to miss’ Brian May, Daily Express

Read more

Being in a West End or Broadway musical is the dream of thousands of talented performers. But competition is intense and reaching the spotlight can often require a leap into the dark. So You Want To Be In Musicals? is your comprehensive guide to building – and sustaining – a successful career in musical theatre, and introduces you to everything you need to know about:

• Training how to select a drama school, what to do to get in, and what to do once you’re there
• Auditioning how to choose and prepare your pieces, and foster a positive attitude towards auditions
• Rehearsing how to construct your character, work with the director, and develop your own creative process
• Performing how to deal with nerves, what to do as an understudy, and how to sustain that eight-show-a-week routine
• Working how to get an agent, how to market yourself effectively, and how to maintain a healthy body and mind

Along with a wealth of honest, straightforward advice, the book is packed with instructive anecdotes from Ruthie’s own glittering career.

Written with Daniel Bowling music supervisor and director on many of the West End’s biggest shows – including The Phantom of the Opera, Joseph, Mary Poppins and Avenue Q – So You Want To Be In Musicals? provides an extraordinary wealth of inside information and advice, that would usually take years of hard work and determination to obtain, in one essential volume.

Read more

‘One of the most joyous and clear-eyed approaches to playing a character that I have ever read… I am so grateful Giles took notes on his process and turned them into this book. I was already in awe of his performance; now I’m in awe of his humanity and attention to detail and willingness to share the hard work and magic that goes into it.’ Lin-Manuel Miranda, from his Foreword

‘Stand. Breathe. Look. Try to empty my mind. Somehow, for some reason, I have been brought to this place to tell this story, now. So tell it. That’s all.’

When Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking musical Hamilton opened in London’s West End in December 2017, it was as huge a hit as it had been in its original production off – and on Broadway. Lauded by critics and audiences alike, the show would go on to win a record-equalling seven Olivier Awards – including Best Actor in a Musical for Giles Terera, for his portrayal of Aaron Burr.

For Terera, though, his journey as Burr had begun more than a year earlier, with his first audition in New York, and continuing through extensive research and preparation, intense rehearsals, previews and finally opening night itself. Throughout this time he kept a journal, recording his experiences of the production and his process of creating his award-winning performance. This book, Hamilton and Me, is that journal

It offers an honest, intimate and thrilling look at everything involved in opening a once-in-a-generation production – the triumphs, breakthroughs and doubts, the camaraderie of the rehearsal room and the moments of quiet backstage contemplation – as well as a fascinating, in-depth exploration of now-iconic songs and moments from the musical, as seen from the inside. It is also deeply personal, as Terera reflects on experiences from his own life that he drew on to help shape his acclaimed portrayal

Illustrated with dozens of colour photographs, many of which are shared here for the first time, and featuring an exclusive Foreword by Lin-Manuel Miranda, this book is an essential read for all fans of Hamilton – offering fresh, first-hand insights into the music and characters they love and know so well – as well as for aspiring and current performers, students, and anyone who wants to discover what it really felt like to be in the room where it happened.

The author’s credentials as a Hamilton expert are second to none… the real strength of this book lies not only in its affection for the show and the company but also a great deal of detail about the topsy-turvy adventure of bringing it to the stage. British Theatre Guide

Read more