Barry Millington is chief music critic for the London Evening Standard and the editor of The Wagner Journal. He has written and edited, or co-edited, seven books on Wagner, including The Wagner Compendium, The Ring of the Nibelungen: A Companion and the New Grove Guide to Wagner and his Operas.

1. Father of the Man: Paternity and Childhood . 2. Learning the Craft: Youthful Apprenticeship . 3. Earning his Keep: First Professional Appointments . 4. Under the Yoke: Kapellmeister in Dresden . 5. The Eternal Wanderer: Der fliegende Holländer . 6. Desperately Seeking Venus: Tannhäuser . 7. Swansong to Traditional Opera: Lohengrin . 8. Revolutionary Road: Uprising in Dresden . 9. The Zurich Years: Wagner's Exile in Switzerland . 10. The Rise and Fall of Valhalla: Der Ring des Nibelungen . 11. 'Most Excellent Friend': Franz Liszt . 12. Muses, Mistresses and Mother-Figures: Wagner's Women . 13. The Behemoth of Bayreuth: Wagner's Personality . 14. Always Short: Wagner and Money . 15. In the Pink: The Role of Silks and Satins in Wagner's Life . 16. 'My Adored and Angelic Friend': Ludwig II . 17. Fatal Attraction: Tristan und Isolde . 18. 'Art is What Matters Here': Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg . 19. Grit in the Oyster: Anti-Semitism in Wagner's Life and Work . 20. Creative Spark: Sources of Inspiration in Wagner's Work . 21. The Silent Sufferer: Cosima Wagner . 22. Tribschen Interlude: The Lucerne Years . 23. A Home for the Gods: The Bayreuth Project . 24. Wagner's Last Card: Parsifal . 25. Death in Venice: The Events of Wagner's Last Days . 26. Perfect and Imperfect Wagnerites: The Spread of the Wagner Cult . 27. Panning for Gold: Wagner and Cinema . 28. Swastikas Over Bayreuth: Wagner and the Third Reich . 29. Regime Change: The Grandsons Usher In the Era of New Bayreuth . 30. Renewing the Legacy: Bayreuth Today and in the Future . Family Tree