Forced to provide for his family from the age of 8 and thrown out of his home in the midst of a bitter Moscow winter at age 12, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky's humble beginning in turn-of-the-century Russia establishes him as the archetype of the struggling artist. Using an ever-changing collection of second-hand and borrowed instruments, Piatigorsky was just beginning to reach the notice of Moscow's elite when the October Revolution force his escape to Warsaw, where he enjoyed moderate success with the Warsaw Philharmonic. He relocated to Berlin a few months later and again struggled in poverty before eventually emerging as solo cellist with the Berlin Philharmonic. Whereas Piatigorsky's whimsical autobiography Cellist left off in mid-career, this book provides an all-embracing chronicle of Piatigorsky's tempestuous life and career, finally revealing the full life story of one of the twentieth century's greatest musicians.