本书稿追溯了埃及、希腊、泰国、中国等国各种古代乐器的演变，采用了大量雕塑、文物等材料来探讨世界各地最早期的音乐发展历程。书稿中的65幅插图显示了许多早期的历史记录。作者没有被先入为主的音乐史观念所支配，他根据这些证据作出许多关于早期音乐史的科学论断。

喻辉，云南大学特聘教授，艺术学院院长，国家社科基金艺术学重大项目首席专家，美国威斯理安大学民族音乐学专业哲学博士(2000)，浙江省“千人计划”特聘专家。现兼任亚洲音乐学会共同会长，英文国际期刊Asian Musicology《亚洲音乐学》共同主编，中国东方音乐学会副会长、秘书长，东亚乐律学会第12届中国会长。先后在A&HCI、SSCI、CSSCI收录期刊发表中英文论文50余篇，在包括劳特利奇(Routledge)出版社和牛津大学出版社在内的国内外出版社出版著作五本，主编丛书三套。为《格罗夫乐器辞典》华语地区唯一特约撰稿人，牛津大学出版社《牛津学科手册：中国音乐》共同主编。

Chapter
I. At the Gates of the Past
II. In the Land of Myth-The Pursuit of the Gods
III. In the Land of Egypt-The Lady Maket and
her Flutes
IV. In the Land of Egypt-More Egyptian
Flutes-The Evidences of the Scale
V. In the Land of Etruria-The Greco-Etruscan
Double Flutes-The Bulbed or Subulo Flutes
VI. In the Land of Greece-From Etruria to
Athens
VII. In the Land of Greece-The Silkworm Flutes,
or Bombyx Flutes
VIII. In Oscan Land-Italia-Found at Pompeii
The Greco-Roman Flutes
IX. Back to the Land of the Nile-Egypt Reveals
the Secret
X. The Isles of Greece-Midas the Glorious
XI. Near the City of Charites-The Mystery of the
"Slender Brass"
XII. At the Delphic Temple-The Music Heard by
the Greeks
XIII. In the Land of China-The Outspread Phoenix
XIV. The Mongols New Home-The Mythical
Finding of the Lis
XV. In the Flowery Kingdom-The Bird's Nest
XVI. By the Yellow River-The Evolution of the
Sheng
XVII. In the Land of Siam-The Siamese "Phan"
XVIII In the Land of Japan-Japanese Pitch Pipes
and the Japanese Clarionet and the Sho
XIX. In Ancient China-Ceremonial Instruments
XX. In Ancient China-The Flutes of the Chinese
XXI. In Ancient China-The Favourite of Confucius
XXII. In Ancient China-The Trumpets of the
Chinese
XXIII. The Music Heard in Far Cathay--The oldest
Written Music
XXIV. Evolution of the Lyre,Harp,and Lute-The
Bow with the Boat
XXV. The Choice of the Greeks-The Delphic Lyre
XXVI. How The Music Grew-In the Days of a
Thousand Years
XXVII. At Alexandria-The Final Setlement of the
Scale