Andrew Goodman tells the story of the most astonishing partnership in the history of British musical entertainment, and unfolds it against the authentic background of the city and era in which they flourished. With much original research and many hitherto unpublished illustrations, Goodman makes an invaluable contribution to our knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Gilbert and Sullivan in this handsome volume, already a classic of its kind. He summons up a bygone era in a predominantly celebratory tone: recalling the lost grandeur of the city's great entertainment palaces, its atmospheric streetlife and nightlife, its splendour and its squalor. Mike Leigh, director of Topsy Turvy , a film about Gilbert and Sullivan's collaboration on The Mikado , provides a new foreword.