This is not a book for musical wimps. It is thick, densely written and profusely illustrated with musical examples of the things Rosen, a well-known concert pianist as well as author and lecturer, writes about: the music of the Romantic period, particularly as exemplified by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Bellini, and Schubert, in the light of their times. It is also highly rewarding if you can make it all the way through. Because it can be difficult to write adequately about music, it is especially felicitous that Rosen has chosen to append a 74-minute CD that demonstrates some of his points. This is a companion volume to his 1970 work, The Classical Style.