How did an 18th-century child prodigy become a 20th-century icon? Was the adult Mozart really a womanizing, drink-fuelled gambler with Tourette's Syndrome? Was he murdered...?

Julian Rushton jumps right into the debate with this fascinating and readable history, dispensing with the myth, conjecture , and popular iconography that frequently distorts our notions of what Mozart and his times were really like. What emerges is a more human and believable portrait , challenging our preconceptions...