Julian Rushton studied at both Cambridge and Oxford, and taught at the Universities of East Anglia and Cambridge before coming to Leeds as Professor of Music in 1982. He was President of the Royal Musical Association from 1994 to 1999. His books include Classical Music: A Concise History, handbooks on Mozart's Don Giovanni and Idomineo, and studies on Berlioz and Elgar.

As a way of reviving and updating one's knowledge of Mozart's life, this will be difficult to surpass.

• 1. Wunderkind (1756-1769) 2. Out of the Cage (1770-1777) 3. Flight and Recapture (1777-1781) 4. Freelance in Vienna (1781-1786) 5. Decline and Fall (1787-1791) 6. Epilogue