"The finest overall survey of the subject."- FINANCIAL TIMES

Paul Oliver is a leading writer on the blues. He has contributed to various magazines, written sleeve notes for record companies, broadcast in Britain, the United States and Ghana and appeared on television. His other books include Blues Fell This Morning, Savannah Syncopators, Conversation with the Blues, and Songsters and Saints. He is a Doctor of Arts, a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institution and of Oxford Brookes University.

"It deals with the origins, geographical distribution, social significance and outstanding interpreters…The result is magnificent, both as a work of reference and as a narrative be enjoyed for its own sake." - DAILY TELEGRAPH

"…It outlines the geographical, economic and social factors that shaped the music, beginning with the songs of the slaves and coming right up to rhythm-and-blues…An indispensable guide to the folk music of our century." - BRITISH BOOK NEWS

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