If you want to get beyond Amadeus, this is the ideal book

Review of Mozart: The Reign of Love by Jan Swafford

The film Amadeus has long fascinated me. To fill out the picture and check it for accuracy, I read Swafford’s book. It is a brilliant and detailed exploration of Mozart’s life and work, sometimes too detailed in its critical dissection of his major works (as I had feared in a 750-page scholarly treatment). But at its best, it is a fascinating look at hi…