In prehistoric caves, drummers used natural acoustics to recreate natural sound. In classical Europe, orators turned the human voice into a lyrical instrument. And in Buddhist temples, the icons' ears were exaggerated to represent their spiritual power. In a narrative history of the subject which puts humans at its centre, and coinciding with the author's major Radio 4 series on the same subject, historian David Hendy describes the history of noise - which is also the history of listening.

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