Engelska

<p>Comprising a vivid and varied series of miniature biographies, revealing profiles, thought-provoking essays and a multitude of previously unknown anecdotes and quotes, <i>Hercules!: The A to Z of Elton John</i> is the perfect compendium for the casual fan or devoted connoisseur, providing a funny, comprehensive and fully alphabetised overview of the star's life and music.<br/><br/>Charting all the highs and lows, the major record releases and the significant tours, the strokes of genius and the bottoms of barrels, this insightful portrait will cover serious subjects such as Elton's battle with the media, his highly publicised addictions, his route to sobriety, his tangled love life and his struggles to come to terms with his sexuality, hair loss and temper. But, as Elton himself always does so well in the hundreds of interviews he has given over the past half-century, his stories will also be told frankly and humorously, his demons now conquered and his success unrelenting.<br/><br/>And at the heart of this book is a joyride through one of the all-time greatest musical catalogues from a brilliant, versatile, glamorous and universally loved pop superstar.</p>

<p>Wonderfully engaging, expansive and ambitious, <i>Sound Tracks</i> tells the history of our relationship with music in sixty detective stories, each focusing on the discovery of a musical instrument - or its fragments - in archaeological digs around the world. Taking us from the present day - finding a 100-year-old wax cylinder recording on a flea market - all the way back to the dawn of time - the thrilling discovery of a prehistoric flute - long-lost music is itself reconstructed as we enter the worlds of those who created it.<br/><br/>We feel the delight of a child in Peru in 700 AD, playing with a water-filled pot designed to chirp like a bird; we appreciate the difficult task of a soldier sending signals by trumpet to the next watchtower on Hadrian's Wall; we can almost hear the sounds of the sixty-four bells buried in a tomb in China in the 5th century BC.<br/><br/>Graeme Lawson takes us on a grand tour of the world's greatest musical discoveries, revealing that music is part of human DNA - not just in its role as pastime, entertainment or religious expression but also as a medium in which we commemorate our pasts, communicate with each other, and shape our identities, relationships and communities.<br/><br/>Written with verve and passion and brimming with astonishing insights, <i>Sound Tracks</i> is an enthralling alternative history of humanity in which the silences of the past are filled with a wonderful treasure hoard of forgotten sounds and voices.</p>