George Friedrich Handel remains one of the unchallenged geniuses of musical history. Yet many revealing and fascinating aspects of his work have been obscured by generations of adulation, prejudice, or misinterpretation. Christopher Hogwood takes us back to the original Handel, blending the evidence from documents of all kinds with judicious biographical observations as well as a delightful selection of illustrations. The result is a comprehensive and entertaining portrait of the developing character and career of Handel, with an important concluding chapter that traces the progress of the Handel legend down to our own time, and a chronological table compiled by Anthony Hicks that outlines major events in the composer's life and musical career. 100 illustrations, 10 in color.