You know the music... but do you know the man? Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the world's best loved and most influential composers. His life - its dramas, conflicts, loves and losses - is played out in his music. Now John Suchet shows us the man behind the music in this compelling biography of a musical genius. He reveals a difficult and complex character, struggling to continue his profession as musician despite increasing deafness, alienating friends with unprovoked outbursts of anger one moment, overwhelming them with excessive kindness and generosity the next, living in a city in almost constant disarray because of war with France. This is the real Beethoven, and Suchet brings him faithfully and vividly to life.

The Classic FM Friendly Guide to Beethoven will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about this famous composer, who is consistently in the top five in the Classic FM Hall of Fame (a yearly poll of the nations musical 145,000 listeners took part in 2005). Why was his childhood unhappy? How did his deafness affect him? Who were the women in his life? Who was The Immortal Beloved? What was The Heiligenstadt Testament? While giving all the facts about The Man and The Music, The Classic FM Friendly Guide to Beethoven includes lively and light-hearted features, quotes and anecdotes. There are sections about Beethovens Top 20 hits (with reference to the CD) and about his music in films, and even a Beethoven Mood Chart for when you need to raise or lower your blood pressure. Classic FM, the worlds largest classical music station (9.5 million listeners per month), have teamed up with popular TV journalist and acclaimed Beethoven expert John Suchet and publishers Hodder Arnold to publish this book, which takes its title from a new Friendly Guides on-air feature.