About this item
From New York Times bestselling historian and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist Charles King, the moving untold story of the eighteenth-century men and women behind the making of Handel's Messiah. George Frideric Handel's Messiah is arguably the greatest piece of participatory art ever created. Adored by millions, it is performed each year by renowned choirs and orchestras, as well as by audiences singing along with the words on their cell phones.. But this work of triumphant joy was born in a worried age. Britain in the early Enlightenment was a place of astonishing creativity but also the seat of an empire mired in war, enslavement, and conflicts over everything from the legitimacy of government to the meaning of truth. Against this turbulent background, prize-winning author Charles King has crafted a cinematic drama of the troubled lives that shaped a masterpiece of hope.
About the Author
Charles King is the author of seven books, including the New York Times-bestselling GODS OF THE UPPER AIR (2019) , winner of the Francis Parkman Prize and the Anisfield-Wolf Award, and finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award and Los Angeles Times history prize; MIDNIGHT AT THE PERA PALACE (2014) , a New York Times Notable Book; and ODESSA: GENIUS AND DEATH IN A CITY OF DREAMS (2011) , winner of a National Jewish Book Award. He lectures widely on global affairs and has worked with broadcast media including NPR, MSNBC, and the BBC. A native of the Ozark hill country, King studied history and politics at the University of Arkansas and Oxford University, where he was a British Marshall Scholar. He is Professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University, where he previously served as chair of the Department of Government and faculty chair of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. @charleskingdc, www.charleskingauthor.com. Author photo by Mary Fecteau.
