Short Synopsis
Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times is a landmark biography of the Polish composer by a leading authority on Chopin and his time.

Full Synopsis
A landmark biography of the Polish composer by a leading authority on Chopin and his time.

Based on ten years of research and a vast cache of primary sources located in archives in Warsaw, Paris, London, New York, and Washington, D.C., Alan Walker's monumental Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times is the most comprehensive biography of the great Polish composer to appear in English in more than a century. Walker's work is a corrective biography, intended to dispel the many myths and legends that continue to surround Chopin. Fryderyk Chopin is an intimate look into a dramatic life; of particular focus are Chopin's childhood and youth in Poland, which are brought into line with the latest scholarly findings, and Chopin's romantic life with George Sand, with whom he lived for nine years.

Comprehensive and engaging, the biography wears its scholarship lightly: this is a book suited as much for the professional pianist as it is for the casual music lover. Just as he did in his definitive biography of Liszt, Walker illuminates Chopin and his music with unprecedented clarity in this magisterial biography, bringing to life one of the nineteenth century’s most confounding, beloved, and legendary artists.

"Packed with information and insightful analyses of Chopin's major works that will interest professional musicians, and even nonspecialists will be entranced by Walker's piquant storytelling and graceful prose." -Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"A sensitively discerning examination of a 19th-century superstar . . . a magnificent, elegantly written biography . . . An absorbing biography unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon." -Kirkus, Starred Review

"Walker . . . punctuates a rich texture of biography and history with discussions of Chopin's technical and compositional innovations and distinctions that neatly show why he is so highly regarded . . . Walker's biography is a towering and beautiful achievement." -Booklist, Starred Review

"[Fryderyk Chopin] is sure to become the definitive biography on the great composer . . . General readers should find this accessible as well as engrossing." -Library Journal, Starred Review

Publishers Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

Kirkus Bestseller