This is a book that infuriates some scholars—at least among that small group who have the patience to work their way through its dense text. But Graves demonstrates, on page after page, both his erudition and the bold ambitions of his project. Strange to say, he is very much the European counterpart of Henry Louis Gates. Graves believes he has deciphered codes at the root of Western culture, and argues persuasively that they were created by the bards, those wise musicians who linger in the background of European history. I don’t agree with everything he says here, but this is a vitally important book that explains things about the connection between music and culture you won’t learn anywhere else. But—like every other book on this list—no one describes The White Goddess as a music book, and it will never get assigned in a music class.