This account of the renowned composer's neglected wife—including her years in a Soviet prison—is "a story both riveting and wrenching" ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review).Serge Prokofiev was one of the twentieth century's most brilliant composers yet is an enigma to historians and his fans. Why did he leave the West and move to the Soviet Union despite Stalin's crimes? Why did his astonishing creativity in the 1930s soon dissolve into a far less inspiring out...

An erudite and entertaining history of Moscow, a city whose rich past offers crucial insight into contemporary global politics'Monumental' SUNDAY TIMES'Brilliant' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT'A marvellous book' HELEN RAPPAPORT, author of The Rebel Romanov‘Every page pulses with individual stories and historical insights' MARK GALEOTTI, author of A Sh...

**An erudite and entertaining history of Moscow, a city defined by its survival and reinvention, and whose rich history offers crucial insight into contemporary global politics"A magisterial account of Moscow that reveals the city’s history and something of its soul through countless interwoven stories and colorful characters. . . . A gripping and enlightening journey.”—Ben Rhodes, New York Times bestselling author of After the Fall**The city of Mos...

As heard on Radio 4 Book of the WeekLina Prokofiev was alone in her Moscow apartment one night when the telephone rang. The caller insisted that she come downstairs to collect a parcel, but when she reached the courtyard she was arrested for treason.First enraptured by the young pianist and rising star, Serge Prokofiev, during a courtship in Brooklyn, then abandoned by him in Moscow, Lina survived one of the darkest periods in Soviet histor...

A stunning musical biography of Stevie Nicks that paints a portrait of an artist, not a caricature of a superstar.Reflective and expansive, Mirror in the Sky situates Stevie Nicks as one of the finest songwriters of the twentieth century.This biography from distinguished music historian Simon Morrison examines Nicks as a singer and songwriter before and beyond her career with Fleetwood Mac, from the Arizona landscape of her childhood to the strobe-...

**An erudite and entertaining history of Moscow, a city defined by its survival and reinvention, and whose rich history offers crucial insight into contemporary global politics"A magisterial account of Moscow that reveals the city’s history and something of its soul through countless interwoven stories and colorful characters. . . . A gripping and enlightening journey.”—Ben Rhodes, New York Times bestselling author of After the Fall**The city of Mos...

Brought to you by Penguin.An erudite and entertaining history of Moscow, a city whose rich past offers crucial insight into contemporary global politicsMoscow stands at the centre of a nation comprising eleven percent of the globe’s landmass, eleven time zones and nearly one hundred and fifty million people, some thirteen million of whom live in the capital. A Kingdom and a Village vividly brings to life Russia’s heart and soul, tr...

Sergey Prokofiev was one of the twentieth century's greatest composers--and one of its greatest mysteries. Until now. In The People's Artist, Simon Morrison draws on groundbreaking research to illuminate the life of this major composer, deftly analyzing Prokofiev's music in light of new archival discoveries. Indeed, Morrison was the first scholar to gain access to the composer's sealed files in the Russian State Archives, where he uncovered a wealth of previously unknown scores, w...

On a freezing night in January 2013, an assailant hurled acid in the face of the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, Sergei Filin. The crime, organized by a lead soloist, dragged one of Russia’s most illustrious institutions into scandal.Under Vladimir Putin, the Bolshoi Theatre has been called on to preserve Russia’s lengthy artistic legacy and to mirror its neo-imperial ambitions. As renowned musicologist Simon Morrison shows in his tour-de-force account, the attack, and its...

Acclaimed for treading new ground in operatic studies of the period, Simon Morrison’s influential and now-classic text explores music and the occult during the Russian Symbolist movement. Including previously unavailable archival materials about Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, this wholly revised edition is both up to date and revelatory. Topics range from decadence to pantheism, musical devilry to narcotic-infused evocations of heaven, the influence of Wagner, and the significance of contempor...

A thrilling new biography of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky—composer of some of the world's most popular orchestral and theatrical musicTchaikovsky is famous for all the wrong reasons. Portrayed as a hopeless romantic, a suffering melancholic, or a morbid obsessive, the Tchaikovsky we think we know is a shadow of the fascinating reality. It is all too easy to forget that he composed an empire's worth of music, and navigated the imperial Russian court to great advantage.

A stunning musical biography of Stevie Nicks that paints a portrait of an artist, not a caricature of a superstar.Reflective and expansive, Mirror in the Sky situates Stevie Nicks as one of the finest songwriters of the twentieth century.This biography from distinguished music historian Simon Morrison examines Nicks as a singer and songwriter before and beyond her career with Fleetwood Mac, from the Arizona landscape of her childhood to the strobe-...