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Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Bagpipes: A Cultural History

The Bagpipes: A Cultural History

Hardcover

Classical MusicMusic Instruction: GeneralGeneral World History

ISBN10: 180526284X
ISBN13: 9781805262848
Publisher: Hurst & Co.
Published: Jul 15 2025
Pages: 272
Weight: 1.50
Height: 1.60 Width: 6.00 Depth: 8.60
Language: English
History's first named bagpiper is a man playing a pipe with a bag tucked under his armpit in the first century CE. He was the Roman Emperor Nero. Since then, this improbable conflation of bag and sticks has become the world's most beloved and contested instrument. Another piping emperor, Tsar Peter the Great, decided that his departed pet bear would live on--as a bagpipe.

This vivid history tells the long story of an instrument boasting over 130 varieties, yet commonly associated with just one, from one country: Scotland's Great Highland Bagpipe. In fact, the pipes are played across the globe, illuminating societies in remarkable, unexpected ways. Richard McLauchlan charts the rise of women pipers; investigates class, privilege and capitalism in the piping world; and explores how a national instrument can shift in meaning amidst the currents of identity.

The vibrancy and inventiveness of today's pipers showcase the allure of this fabled, fascinating instrument, to which McLauchlan is our surefooted guide.

Also from

McLauchlan, Richard

Also in

General World History