I thought this book was a dry gloss of 2 subjects that deserve to be more interesting - history and opera. I thought the author did justice to neither by attempting to cover both too broadly. I had high hopes for finding more historical insight and perspective into the operas I love - but found more of a dry recitation of names, dates, titles, incidents. The people did not come alive for me. Am also reading a social history of early modern Germany called "Flesh and Spirit" - it's a much more interesting treatment of social history and, ironically, brings me much closer to the characters of operas written and/or set in that period.