'Sharply insightful and vividly imaginative... the perfect Christmas gift for anyone asking: 'How do I get into classical music?'' - Rupert Christiansen, Mail on Sunday

'A treat from the very first page... written with style and humour, this is a perfect introduction to classical music for a beginner, a companion for the music lover, and sheer entertainment for both.' - Joanna Lumley

Nearly all of us have the capacity to enjoy classical music but too often we are put off by not knowing where to look, or what we are actually looking for. We feel the need of a guide to help navigate such vast and varied artistic terrain.

With this delightful book, historian Tim Bouverie provides just this. Drawing on his lifelong passion for music, he has created a compilation of 100 classical masterpieces sure to move and be enjoyed by almost anyone. Some are well-known, some more idiosyncratic, others hidden gems waiting to be brought into the light. All are intended to comfort and inspire. He provides a short introduction to each piece - variously anecdotal, personal, historical and quirky - and a recommended recording to try.

Highly accessible and entertaining, Perfect Pitch is filled with engrossing stories and insights that bring to life 300 years of the world's greatest music.

An accompanying playlist is available on Spotify.

Tim Bouverie has nurtured a passion for classical music since he was five years old. Having studied history at Christ Church Oxford, he worked as a political journalist before becoming a full-time historian and writer. His first book Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain Churchill and the Road to War was a Sunday Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. While working on a sequel on Allied diplomacy during the Second World War, he has been the Alistair Horne Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford.