Mozarts life was lived in the years that were central in forming the curltural composition of the modern era. The author sees the 18th century as beginning with two great but fundamentally different musical dynasties in place bridged by Mozarts genius. This biography has at its core the premise that to illuminate the life and its works one must understand first and foremost its cultural context. Accordingly the author acts as our polymathic guide on a grand tour of the political religious social economic and musical elements that define the 18th century all the while keeping the story of Mozarts life life firmly in sight.