The original biography of Handel by Jonathan Keates was praised as a masterpiece upon its release in 1985. This fully revised and updated new edition – published to honor the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death – details Handel’s life, from his youth in Germany, through his extraordinarily successful Italian travels, to the luxury and hardship of Georgian London, where he settled permanently. For more than two decades, Handel was immersed in the vibrant yet uncertain world of London opera. But even his apparent energy and determination could not overcome the ever-growing indifference of the public towards Italian opera in the 1730s, and he eventually turned to oratorio, a genre that he made very much his own and in which he created some of his finest works, such as Saul, Messiah, Belshazzar, and Jephtha. Over the past two decades, there has been a complete revolution in the appreciation of Handel. He is now regarded as a giant figure in music, whose compositions have found a permanent place in the international repertoire, and he is one of the most beloved composers in the world, with excerpts of his work accompanying weddings, funerals, and television commercials around the globe. Inextricably linked with the account of Handel's life is the appreciation of all his major works, as well as many lesser-known pieces by this astonishing, expressive, and captivating composer. Handel was an extraordinary genius whose career included setbacks that would have crushed someone with less endurance and determination, and Jonathan Keates writes about his life and work with compassion and meticulousness.