"James Gaines writes with great beauty and intelligence...an exciting saga that brings the turmoil of the Enlightenment alive." -- Walter Isaacson, author of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

"History winningly told, with the immediacy of a great novel...Gaines paints a whole age with the skill of Tuchman." -- Mary Karr, author of THE LIARS CLUB and CHERRY

"Evening in the Palace of Reason has given me enormous pleasure and instruction." -- Jan Morris, author of A Writer's House in Wales

"First rate...[Gaines] writes superbly and makes us feel at home with things that would have sounded arcane otherwise." -- Daily Telegraph (London)

"A moving portrait...Gaines has a deep understanding of music and an infectious zeal for narrative history." -- People (four stars)

"Gaines maps sweeping cultural history with dazzling virtuosity...You won't find a more lucid and engaging guide." -- Entertainment Weekly

"A book-length romp that is less like a B-Minor Mass than an Italian opera...Wonderful." -- Harper's Magazine

"Gaines writes very accessibly...A marvelous story that will captivate the classical music audience." -- Booklist

"Highly entertaining... Lovers of music, European history, and Western philosophy will find this book an enormous pleasure." -- Library Journal (starred review)

"An eloquent and fascinating study, highly debatable at points yet all the more stimulating for that...Accessible and entertaining." -- Time magazine

"Gaines elegantly sketches parallel biographies of the two protagonists....His enthusiasm is infectious." -- New York Sun

"Intelligent, stylish, wryly witty, serious yet never solemn, and above all passionate in its celebration of a great composer." -- The Guardian

"Articulate, well-informed and rigorous...Gaines makes this dauntingly technical subject accessible." -- Sunday Telegraph

"Impossible to put down when one is dancing, swerving, stumbling through [the] extraordinary brilliance...a wonderfully engaging tale." -- The Independent (Sunday)

"Lively...with a delicious cast of characters...Gaines shows himself a deft writer." -- Denver Post

"Filled with sensible speculation and insights, Gaines' books is a model for humanities writing." -- San Antonio Express-News

"Gaines writes with admirable erudition...No author could want a more promising pair of antagonists." -- New York Times Book Review