The Rough Guide to World Music is the unchallenged reference work on sounds from around the globe. This third edition is more comprehensive than ever - updated and expanded throughout and with a number of new countries added. Volume 1: Africa & Middle East has full coverage of genres from Afrobeat to Arabesque, and artists from Amadou & Mariam to Umm Kulthum. The book includes articles on more than 60 countries written by expert contributors, discographies for each article with biographical notes on thousands of musicians and reviews of their best CDs.