This is the authoritative account of Vaughan Williams's musical the story of a great composer's career and at the same time the story of music in England for over half a century. Kennedy considers the principal works in chronological order, outlining the main features of each, often with illuminating musical quotations. With unrestricted access to the composer’s private papers, Kennedy also provides a good deal of biographical data, and so builds up a picture of the composer, as well as providing thumbnail sketches of many of the composer’s friends and colleagues. The book includes many letters which illuminate Vaughan Williams’s intentions and contains quotations from his writings and all of the composer’s own program notes. Besides the straightforward narrative of a full and busy life of music, there is a critical commentary on the works and an authoritative catalogue. English writer Michael Kennedy (1926 - 2014) was educated at Berkhamsted School and joined the Manchester staff of the Daily Telegraph in 1941. Following service in the Royal Navy, he returned to the Telegraph as an assistant to the night editor. He was its northern music critic (1950–89) and its northern editor (1960–86). In 1989 he became chief music critic of the Sunday Telegraph. He was appointed OBE in 1981 and CBE in 1997. His first major work was The Hallé Tradition, a well-documented and vivid account of the orchestra’s first hundred years. Before Vaughan Williams died he asked that Kennedy should write the musical side of his biography, and the resulting book, prepared over eight years, is marked by the same attention to detail as both his first book and his sensitive study of Elgar. Kennedy's musical roots are firmly in the north of England and he has done that region great service. His books on the musical life and institutions of the area show his ability to combine unobtrusive scholarship with erudite music journalism.