<i>'In his latest collection, Andrew Ford delivers with such rare clarity and passion that even the self - confessed cloth - eared and tone deaf will be musically awakened and enlightened'</i> - Richard Tognetti In <i>Try Whistling This</i>, join a perceptive critic on a pleasurable journey through music and musicians, ideas and history. Andrew Ford traces the concept of dirty dancing back to 1610, marvels at the weirdness of Percy Grainger and considers the decision of Wilhelm Furtwängler to keep conducting under the Nazis. He explores the intersection of words and music, the bugbear of Australian musical identity, and the fundamental importance, in music and in life, of listening. There are essays based on Ford's acclaimed radio series <i>Music and Fashion</i>, as well as a set of illuminating examinations of music - makers from Mozart to Shostakovich, Cole Porter to Bob Dylan. <i>Try Whistling This</i> offers another take on history, told through music, and shows a brilliant communicator in action.