The Shortest History of Music: From Bone Flutes to Synthesizers, Hildegard of Bingen to Beyoncé - 5,000 Years of Instrument and Song

From prehistoric songwriting to digital recording, discover the history of the world's favorite art form

No other art is as popular-or pervasive-as music. With just a few clicks, anyone can cue up (and critique) Chopin or Cher, The Bangles or The Beatles-even the brand-new Beyoncé. But things weren't always this way.

In this brisk, breakneck history under 300 pages, award-winning composer, author, and broadcaster Andrew Ford replays the dramatic evolution of music, from early oral songs to th...