Messiah: The Landmark Library

Jonathan Keatesis a distinguished and prize-winning biographer, novelist and travel writer, and author of the biographiesHandelandPurcell. He is chairman of the Venice in Peril fund and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He won both the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Hawthornden Prize for his collection of short stories,Allegro Postillions(1983). Jonathan Keates is a regular contributor to theObserver(UK) and theTimes Literary Supplement(UK) among a number of other publications.

Wall Street Journal
"Delightful...This richly illustrated book is like a lively performance of the piece itself...Capture[s] the essence of Handel's magic."
"With its astute commentaries on the operas, this book makes a brilliantly lucid guide to Handel's evolving art."
—Independent(UK)

"Keates is an enthusiastic, serious and careful writer.... The author clearly knows what he is talking about, and illuminates what we thought we knew."
—Guardian(UK), Book of the Week

"However you like to hear your Messiah, you should enjoy it more for reading Keates's lucid guide...his analysis is taut and his narrative skillfully concise."
—Times(UK)

Christianity Today
"One strength of Keates's book is the reminder that it is not only the music of Messiah that is extraordinary. So is the libretto, penned by Charles Jennens...Keates's book does what it needs to do in awakening an urge to hear Handel's masterwork again, and now with a bit deeper understanding."
The Deseret News
"Keates illuminates the biography of this famous oratorio...Messiah's life story is one of humble beginnings, soaring successes, controversial adaptations, and eventual redemption, not unlike the scriptures from whence it came."