Pestelli's book is a welcome addition to the musicological world; deeply informative and highly readable. The book is geared towards those with a comfortable familiarity of music history and was probably intended for music professionals and/or university-level music students. Appropriately titled (the AGE...) it focuses heavily on lesser known, yet influential, figures and trends that allowed the music of Mozart and Beethoven to become possible. Those with a lesser musical background are advised to have a good music dictionary on hand, as this writing does carry the informational weight of a university level text book.