The Brass Band Story

Author: Trevor Herbert

United Kingdom, Great Britain

Published on 14 July 2026 by YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS in the United States.

Hardback | 384 pages, 33 b-w illus., 1 map + 2 figs
241 x 164 x 37 | 602g

A lively and engaging history of the brass band in Britain and beyondBrass bands have played a unique role in the cultural history of Britain. Amidst the industrial revolution, an increasingly urban population turned to music for mass entertainment. Brass bands became intimately associated with working men and spread across the country at breathtaking speed. At their height in the late Victorian era, there were thousands of them.

Trevor Herbert reveals the story of these bands, from their working-class origins and the enormous popularity of Victorian contests to their sophistication in modern times. It is a tale of the survival of tradition and the embrace of change. Victorian brass bands solidified communities and promoted shared local identities. As new modes of popular culture posed existential threats in the twentieth century, they reinvented themselves. The model British bands created is now replicated throughout the world.

This is a fascinating and revealing history of a much-loved aspect of Britain’s musical heritage.