Readers cannot go wrong if they choose Keates's account, which is always thoughtful and well-informed, and simmers with an unashamed passion for the music itself

An 18th-century mix of pleasure and instruction... As well as having magisterial critical judgements, this is a book rich in dry humour and telling anecdote

The music is the thing and Keates gives it full volume

Keates appraises his works with passionate scrutiny, capturing superbly the increasing solitude of Handel's English years

This expanded edition of a book Keates published 23 years ago takes in a wealth of new knowledge, and combines biographical and musicological analysis in a way that will appeal both to the general reader and the aficionado... With its astute commentaries on the operas, this book makes a brilliantly lucid guide to Handel's evolving art

His creative engagement sympathetically draws out Handel's motivation as a composer

Keate's study has been skilfully updated in tribute to today's thriving Handel industry through which the composer has risen

A good book has become a better one

Evocative and engaging

Clapton's book is a candid, almost confessional look back on a starry life. This is a compelling, down-to-earth document of the man behind the guitar-hero mask.

Clapton reveals all in this unflinching confessional.

A powerfully honest and very moving insight into the life of a rock legend

Clapton bares his soul. Fascinating. It's an absorbing read, like you've been granted access to a mind finally coming to terms with itself.

Difficult to put down

Clapton provides an orderly account of life in which all other considerations are secondary to the frequently selfish needs of The Artist'

Gold-plated tales of sex, drink, drugs and fame and moments of musical incandescence.

A warm portrait

A harrowing and searingly honest book about the unreal rock star life.

Clapton lays bare his life story in this witty but also painfully honest autobiography. Compelling and accomplished.

A painfully honest insider's account of an age all too often portrayed as one long party

A glorious rock history.

This book does what many rock historians couldn't: It debunks the legend...puts a lie to the glamour of what it means to be a rock star.

Strong stuff. Clapton reveals its author's journey to self-acceptance and manhood. Anyone who cares about the man and his music will want to take the trip with him.

Clapton is honest...even searing and often witty, with a hard-won survivor's humor...an honorable badge of a book.

Riveting

An even, unblinking sensibility defines the author's voice.

An unsparing self-portrait.

Both the youthful excesses and the current calm state are narrated with an engaging tone that nudges Clapton's story ahead of other rock'n'roll memoirs.

Clapton is a confessional, an addiction memoir, and a glorious rock history rolled into one, with a smidgeon of guilt and, ultimately redemption thrown in for good measure.

Clapton fills in many gray areas, recounting his highs and lows with a thoughtfulness often lacking rock memoirs.Methodically he whittles away at the larger-than-life rock god until a vulnerable, messed-up mortal emerges...Clapton is an absorbing tale of artistry, decadence and redemption.It's also an important reminder of the guitarist's imprint on rock music, as a sideman, solo artist and bandleader.Not bad for a blues snob from Surrey.

Clapton: The Autobiography does what many rock historians couldn't: It debunks the legend, de-mythologizes one of the most mythologized electric guitarists ever, puts a lie to the glamour of what is means to be a rock star...It's a cautionary tale that spills over into tragedy several times as love, lives and talents are all wasted.

Like the bluesmen who inspired him, Clapton has his share of scars...his compelling memoir is... a soulful performance.

Charming and surprisingly candid.

Absolutely brilliant