A man of extraordinary charisma, Percy Grainger was at once a legendary virtuoso pianist, a composer of highly original music, an arranger, and a "disher up" of folk music who pierced to the music's heart, and figure of some historical significance in relation to ethnomusicology and music education. Mellers's study of the music of this paradoxical figure examines the musical influence on his compositions of folk-song and of the music of Edvard Grieg, and of those apparent polar opposites, Delius and Bach. Mellers examines some of his more significant pieces in detail; considers his work in recreating traditional material and the music of others; sees him as a champion and transcriber of what is now known as Early Music; and looks at his sometimes alarmingly eccentric notions as to music's nature and purpose. Overriding barriers between art, folk, and pop music, Grainger is difficult to categorize, and is, in the history of music, unique.