bA dauntingly ambitious, obsessively researched iLos Angeles Timesi global history of music that reveals how songs have shifted societies and sparked revolutions.b pHistories of music overwhelmingly suppress stories of the outsiders and rebels who created musical revolutions and instead celebrate the mainstream assimilators who borrowed innovations, diluted their impact, and disguised their sources. In iMusic A Subversive Historyi, Ted Gioia reclaims the story of music for the riffraff, insurgents, and provocateurs. pGioia tells a four-thousand-year history of music as a global source of power, change, and upheaval. He shows how outcasts, immigrants, slaves, and others at the margins of society have repeatedly served as trailblazers of musical expression, reinventing our most cherished songs from ancient times all the way to the jazz, reggae, and hip-hop sounds of the current day. piMusic A Subversive Historyi is essential reading for anyone interested in the meaning of music, from Sap