'Coming hot on the heels of a number of books scrutinising a particular year in Western culture, William A Everett's decision to cast 1924 as the Wunderjahr of the musical is inspired. What a time it was! He surveys it all-musical comedies, lavish and intimate revues, zarzuelas, and operettas, featuring the rise of the Astaires and the Gershwins and the heyday of numerous stars. The shows opened in New York, London, Paris, Madrid, Milan, Vienna, Berlin, and Budapest; their settings ranged from the Canadian Rockies to Damascus by way of Greenwich Village or the Thames; and their improbable but often socially probing plots encompassed infidelity, bootlegging, drug dealing, sex working, people trafficking, and personal journeys from riches to rags and back again. They showed it all-which might mean anything from complete stage nudity to the misplaced inclusivity that now spells racism. Everett, duly sensitive to the contexts of both now and then, is an expert guide to all the glamour and a complete master of the literature and such primary sources as still survive. Is it OK still to enjoy those nostalgic or jazz-age songs he refers to, many of which today's online resources allow us to hear and verify for ourselves? Read, listen, and decide.' Stephen Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music Emeritus, University of Bristol, Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music Emeritus, University of Bristol.