Part of the new Ladybird Expert series, 20th Century Classical Music is a clear, simple and entertaining introduction to the music that encapsulated the defining moments of the contemporary world. Written by The Observer’s classical music critic Fiona Maddocks, 20th Century Classical Music will take you on an acoustic journey through history with a curated playlist on each page.

At the turn of the century, Schoenberg pioneered ‘atonality,’ a new breed of classical music aimed to challenge rather than soothe. Next came Stravinsky’s riotous Rite of Spring written on the eve of WWI, evoking the barbaric and obscene.

From the influence of the jazz age and the sounds of cities, the nationalism of folk revival, Russian revolutions from the Bolsheviks to Stalin, to the fall of the Berlin Wall, you’ll learn how composers painted with a full orchestral palette to capture the sentiments of their time.