In his new book, The Shortest History of Music, Andrew Ford discusses why music is as intrinsic to human life as the air we breathe. But, he argues, music is neither universal nor a language. So, what is it? And why are we so irresistibly drawn to it? After a brief introduction to Ford’s new book, which is published by Black Inc. as part of its Shortest History series, we run an extract.

The cover art for The Shortest History of Music.

Black Inc. launched its Shortest History series in 2012 with The Shortest History of Europe. Since then, it has published 14 titles in the collection including The Shortest History of the World, The Shortest History of Democracy, The Shortest History of War and...