Polish by birth, Fryderyk Chopin made hisname in post-Revolutionary Paris and isoften depicted as the archetypal Romanticartist – blessed with extraordinary talentbut consumed by the flame of genius,tormented by intense and tempestuousrelationships and doomed to an early death.But how much of this story is based on fact?This account of Chopin's life and timesseparates myth and reality and, illustratedwith numerous musical examples, takes usfrom his youthful beginnings as 'a second Mozart' to the darkness and light of his lifeand the brilliance of his work.