Ludwig van Beethoven: A Life From Beginning to End is the second in a growing series of Composer Biographies from Hourly History, an organization I only recently discovered and am very impressed with. Covering a very broad range of historical figures and events, these concise but very well-written books are designed to be read in full in about an hour. I thought at first that they might be geared for kids with shorter attention spans, but I find them very interesting and readable and think they would be suitable for teens on up. They provide a great review or overview of many topics for adults as well as an introduction to areas readers may want to explore in more depth later on.

I was curious about how Beethoven’s life would be evaluated in a short bio, as I have read many books about him as well as books of his letters (I have been a piano teacher for many years), so while I don’t consider myself an expert, I know quite a bit about his complex life. Several things were mentioned in the book that I didn’t know - always a happy bonus! I loved that the grumpy-looking appearance most of us have seen in images of Beethoven was explained in very human terms, as was his relationship with his nephew and sister-in-law. While his music wasn’t dealt with in great detail (for obvious reasons!), many of Beethoven’s better-known works were mentioned as was the vast amount of music created by this beloved musical genius.


These books are available in Kindle editions as well as paperbacks from Amazon and HourlyHistory.com. Very highly recommended!