Gathered together in one volume for the first time: all of the incomparable song lyrics of Irving Berlin, whose career and work are the most important and all-encompassing in the history of American popular music.<br><br>Berlin came from a poor immigrant family and began his career as a singing waiter, but by the time he was nineteen he was publishing his songs and quickly found fame with &quot;Alexander's Ragtime Band&quot; in 1911. In the extraordinary six decades that followed, Berlin wrote one popular hit after another: &quot;Blue Skies,&quot; &quot;Always,&quot; &quot;Cheek to Cheek,&quot; &quot;White Christmas,&quot; &quot;God Bless America,&quot; &quot;There's No Business Like Show Business,&quot; and many, many more. He also wrote a number of the classics of musical theater's Golden Age, climaxing with <i>Annie Get Your Gun</i>. He penned three Astaire and Rogers films--<i>Top Hat</i>, <i>Carefree</i>, and <i>Follow the Fleet</i>--as well as the scores of <i>Holiday Inn</i>, <i>Easter Parade</i>, and other movies. The breadth of his accomplishments is staggering.<br><br>Berlin's entire oeuvre is here--the lyrics of more than 1,200 songs (400 of which have never before appeared in print), along with anecdotal, historical, and musicological commentary and dozens of photographs. <br><br>This beautiful volume is an invaluable contribution to the understanding and enjoyment of popular music in our time.