In May 1924, the BBC broadcast a miracle to the world: a wild nightingale singing a duet with a remarkable young cellist called Beatrice Harrison. Over a million people tuned in to hear this live performance, which Beatrice repeated with a nightingale for the BBC every spring until 1942. These broadcasts transformed the public interest in nightingales - a species already in decline.

If Beatrice's duets with the nightingales touched a chord with the world, her own life proved to be as musical, free-spirited and inspiring. From her early years as a musical prodigy to recording with the most important composers of the day and playing for the wounded in the Second World War, this timely reissue of Patricia Cleveland-Peck's classic book recounts Beatrice's rich life vividly and features a new introduction by Maria Popova.

A woman not ahead of her time but beyond it -- MARIA POPOVA
A cultural moment not dissimilar to the moon landing -- SAM LEE
Beatrice Harrison played while birds sang and she played while bombs fell during the Blitz. An indomitable musician with this blissful innocent spirit -- STEPHEN NACHMANOVITCH

Patricia Cleveland-Peck is the bestselling author of twenty-four children's books, including You Can't Take an Elephant on the Bus, a radio play and a stage play inspired by Beatrice's story, and also writes travel pieces and non-fiction books. She came to know the Harrison family when living in a cottage on their estate at Smallfield, Surrey. It was while researching a biography of the four Harrison sisters that she discovered Beatrice's unpublished autobiography. She lives near East Grinstead, Sussex.