The greatest mind in Western music is examined by a National Book Award–winning writer on culture and psychology in this concise account of the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The composer’s unshakable hold on the public’s fascination can only be strengthened by the historian and biographer Peter Gay’s bold new perspective.  

His passionate and painstaking research reveals truths more fascinating than the myths that have long shrouded the maestro’s life. Here is the archetypal child prodigy whose genius triumphed over early precociousness and who later broke away from a loving but tyrannical father to pursue his vision unhampered. This is the perfect biography for anyone who has ever wanted to know about Mozart but does not want to dig through massive tomes.

“[A] stunning portrait of the disparate sides of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”—New York Times Book Review