History's first named bagpiper is a man playing a pipe "with a bag tucked under his armpit" in the first century CE. He was the Roman Emperor Nero. Since then, this improbable conflation of bag and sticks has become the world's most beloved and contested instrument. Another piping emperor, Tsar Peter the Great, decided that his departed pet bear would live on--as a bagpipe.

This vivid history tells the long story of an instrument boasting over 130 varieties, yet commonly associated with just one, from one country: Scotland's Great Highland Bagpipe. In fact, the pipes are played across the globe, illuminating societies in remarkable, unexpected ways. Richard McLauchlan charts the rise of women pipers; investigates class, privilege and capitalism in the piping world; and explores how a "national instrument" can shift in meaning amidst the currents of identity.

The vibrancy and inventiveness of today's pipers showcase the allure of this fabled, fascinating instrument, to which McLauchlan is our surefooted guide.