"Without Beethoven, music as we know it wouldn't exist. By examining one hundred of his compositions, a portrait emerges of the man behind the music. Lebrecht has immersed himself in the rich catalogue of Beethoven recordings and presents a unique picture of the man through his music. He selects the best recordings of one hundred key pieces, showing the composer as we've never seen him before. Who was the irascible, unpredictable, warped genius who...

In a hundred-year period, a handful of men and women changed the way we see the world. Many of them are well known - Marx, Freud, Proust, Einstein, Kafka. Others have vanished from collective memory despite their enduring importance in our daily lives. Without Karl Landsteiner, for instance, there would be no blood transfusions or major surgery. Without Paul Ehrlich no chemotherapy. Without Siegfried Marcus no motor car. Without Rosalind Franklin...