As the dashing and handsome leader of one of America's most accomplished big bands in the 1930s and 1940s, Artie Shaw achieved measures of fame and fortune which temporarily eclipsed even those of his great rival, Benny Goodman. By 1990, his total sales exceeded 100 million records. Yet Artie Shaw has always been an ambitiously serious musician who frequently tired of the music business, often forsaking it for extended periods. He also achieved renown as a writer of fiction.

Unlike Benny Goodman, Shaw has not been well served by jazz historians. This study (a revised edition of a book first published in the UK in 1998) offers a compelling narrative account and an intelligent analytical assessment of the achievements and concerns of a major figure in American popular music. business, often forsaking it for extended periods. He also achieved renown as a writer of fiction.

JOHN WHITE is Reader Emeritus in American History at the University Of Hull, and lives in Manchester. He has taught at several American universities including the University of Michigan, the University of Rochester, Rutgers, and the University of Alabama. He has received several Fulbright awards, and won the Arthur Miller American Studies Prize in 1992 for his essay Kansas City, Pendergast, and All That Jazz.

CONTENTS:
Perspectives on Swing
Interlude in B Flat: The Search for identity
Beginning the Beguine: Succe$$ and Remorse
War and Peace
Cinderella and Other Stories
Concerto for Clarinet: The Artistry of Shaw
'S Wonderful: Artie Shaw on Record
Coda: The Best of Intentions

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