"Blackwell Guides" are short reference books intended to bring specialist guidance to those building a library of books or recordings. Written and edited by experts, they aim to provide balanced and comprehensive information. In "The Blackwell Guide to Contemporary Composition on Record", Brian Morton looks at nearly 150 important musical works written since 1939. The first part of the book concentrates on specific works. In an accessible, non-technical style, he sets each in the context of its specific period and of its composer's career, discussing in each case the best and most authoritative recorded performances and offering hints for further listening and reading. Composers discussed range from more familiar senior figures like Olivier Messiaen, John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, to younger figures like George Benjamin, Somei Satig and Tim Brady. In addition to European and North American artists, there are essays on works by Asian, African, South American and Australasian composers. In the book's second part, Morton considers the development of the major musical genres and instrumental groupings - the symphony, the string quartet, organ music, songs and choral music - in the period since 1939, offering discographical information in each section, to help readers form a core collection of modern music.