This book recreates the magic of the greatest cellists in history. In succinct and absorbing accounts of their lives, characters and careers, Margaret Campbell brings out the special achievement of each, whether in impact on composers and public taste, contribution to advances in playing technique, or in sheer power over an audience. The instrument we know today developed fron the 'bass violin' and came into general use by the time the great makers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (such as Stradivari, Amati and Montagnana) had brought their craft to perfection and made many of the instruments most sought-after by the modern virtuosi. Margaret Campbell has researched the great performers and teachers, from the earliest known professionals to composers and players such as Boccherini, Romberg, Piatti, Popper, and the founders of various national schools of music: the Duports (pere et fils), Cervetto, and Cossman, who was a friend of Lizst. In more recent times, European names such as Becker, Klengel, Salmond and Alexanian lead to Feuermann, Piatigorsky, Fournier, Rostropovich and above all to Casals - all of whom in turn have had much influence on younger players such as Jacqueline du Pre and the many brilliant players from the USA, Russia and Japan. In all, the reader is given a rich picture of traditions handed down nationally through the generations, becoming cross-fertilised internationally during the twentieth century.