""Thorough, engaging and fun. Musicians interested in the evolution of music in the US will be riveted by this study of one of America's most beloved musical icons. Highly recommended.""--Choice ""An engaging book, easy to read, full of facts and footnotes.""--American Record Guide ""Warfield has brilliantly illuminated how Sousa managed his nascent career to become the March King, providing readers with a remarkable look at how an artist can shape his or her career.""--American Music""Making the March King is chock full of fresh and previously unpublished details about John Philip Sousa's early years, his influences, his formative experiences, and his strategies for promoting his career and reputation. Recommended for anyone interested in music history and the full story of one of the giants of early American popular culture.""--Thomas L. Riis, author of Frank Loesser ""A terrific new book on the early life and times of a composer who has long been as enigmatic as he is familiar.""--Kenneth R. Kreitner, author of Discoursing Sweet Music: Brass Bands and Community Life in Turn-of-the-Century PennsylvaniaPublication supported by the Manfred E. Bukofzer Endowment of the American Musicological Society.