This informative and wide-ranging guide places the original piano work in the context of Russian cultural life, considering in particular the work of the artist Victor Hartman, creator of the pictures that inspired Musorgsky's composition. A detailed synopsis takes the reader through each piece in turn, and subsequent chapters consider the musical language and structure. Michael Russ also describes the fate of the work in the hands of editors and performers and closes by surveying the best of the orchestrations, particularly Ravel's.