´World music´ emerged as an invention of the West from encounters with other cultures. This book draws readers into a remarkable range of these historical encounters, in which music had the power to evoke the exotic and to give voice to the voiceless. In the course of the volume´s eight chapters the reader witnesses music´s involvement in the modern world, but also the individual moments and particular histories that are crucial to an understanding of music´s diversity. World Music is wide-ranging in its geographical scope, yet individual chapters provide in-depth treatments of selected music cultures and regional music histories. The book frequently zooms in on repertoires and musicians - such as Bob Marley, Bartok, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - and attempts to account for world music´s growing presence and popularity at the beginning of the twenty-first century.