Book excerpt: Frederick Niecks' meticulous biography of Chopin is praised to this day as one of the finest accounts of the legendary composer's life ever written. In Niecks' painstakingly assembled work, we behold a chronologically arranged narrative of the upbringing, rise to fame, prominence, illness and death of Frederick Chopin. His tumultuous, strained relationship with French author George Sand is recounted, with the regular quotation of correspondences between the couple and others included in abundance. Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician is a meticulous and voluminous work, perfect for fans and students of the composer who wish to gain intimate insights into Chopin's personal nature, habits, friends, family and the world in which he lived. His travels and struggle with a disease generally suspected to be tuberculosis, are much discussed. Tragically we hear accounts of the mental anguish suffered by the composer, as he grappled with both popular recognition and his worsening respiratory condition.