To its devotees, opera is the most sublime of arts. It is also one of the most accident prone, and when things go wrong, they tend to do so on a grand scale. Great Operatic Disasters records some of the most memorable calamities from opera houses around the world. Most of them are true, some have been embroidered over the years, and a few, well, se non e vero, e ben trovato.

Major composers including Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, and Strauss * Legendary singers from the great divas to the Three Tenors * What to look for and listen to at the opera * The history of opera and why it endures * Stylistic variations and basic theoretical underpinnings * Appreciating the art form * Biographies of the opera's greatest artists * A survey of classic operas

In 2009 after publication of my last book - National Service, Elvis & Me! - I planned to write another book. But fate intervened and after self-publishing my previous books demand grew from others who wanted help to get their own books into print.Whilst we were busy publishing books for others, I appealed for anecdotes and stories to include in Why Should England Tremble. Over 60 people generously submitted contributions, but it was only in March 2012, on a tranquil island, near Luxor in Egypt, that I was able to start shuffling the entries and putting the book together.Why Should England Tremble? is the result - a Miscellany of Anecdotes, Facts, Humour & Memories which have come from many individuals and sources.I do hope you enjoy reading this book which I feel it is the sort of light hearted book you can pick up and laugh at and put down in between reading the more serious stuff.

In depth descriptions of various operas with scene by scene, aria by aria accounts.