The book "The Century that Shaped the Guitar" focuses on a very important century of the guitar's history; it covers the Classical and some of the Romantic period, which accounts for what is considered to be the most significant era, containing the most popular repertoire and historical interest. This book is an invaluable source of information for guitar enthusiasts, students and scholars.

Although there are many other excellent books on the guitar, those books tend to be too diverse in an attempt to reach a wide audience. From the birth of the six-string guitar to the death of Tarrega, this book "The Century that Shaped the Guitar", details the history of the 19th century guitar through nine special instruments from The Guitar Museum. The text in the book is well-illustrated by black and white, and color photographs.

There is much intriguing and interesting information that makes it 'read like a good mystery', as one reviewer also said of James Westbook's previous book "Guitar Through the Ages."  Indeed, many mysteries to do with the guitar are explored, for example ...

Did the Spanish guitarist Dionisio Aguado order the extraordinary 1830 Rene Lacote guitar?

And, is the C.F. Martin-Stauffer guitar possibly the first one that he ever made in America?

Accompanying CD:

A CD of the same title as the book is also provided, featuring performances by: Ulrich Wedemeier, Taro Takeuchi and Paul Gregory. For these performances, instruments from The Guitar Museum were used.

About the Author:

James Westbrook is a graduate in music performance and a noted guitar tutor of various musical styles. He has given many lecture-recitals on the history of the guitar, including the 1995 Classical Guitar Festival of Great Britain. His broad knowledge of guitars is often called upon by other authors and James was consulted for the first Eric Clapton Guitar Auction held at Christies, New York.

In 2001 James created The Guitar Museum, which specializes in the guitar of the 19th century. Since then, many students and scholars have travelled from afar to inspect his rare collection of guitars and manuscripts.

James is also the author of the very popular book, Guitars Through the Ages.

Where to buy:

 The book can be purchased directly from The Guitar Museum -- www.theguitarmuseum.com