Francis Davis's The History of the Blues is a groundbreaking rethinking of the music. Tracing the blues from its origins in the Mississippi Delta to its amplification in Chicago right after World War II, Davis argues for a consideration of the music in its own right, not just as a precursor to jazz and rock 'n' roll. The lives of major figures such as Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and Leadbelly, in addition to contemporary artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughn and Robert Cray, are skillfully woven into an authoritative yet personal narrative that The Times of London has called "marvellously readable."

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