View from the stands of people, politics, military power and the arts

Few individuals have participated so intimately and so diversely in the cultural and political life of both America and the world over the past fifty years as John Kenneth Galbraith. An economist by training and profession, he came first to public attention-and controversy when as price czar he led in the creation of the economic structure that held the American economy stable through the vast expansion of output in World War II. In ensuing years as an author and journalist of widely varied interests, a diplomat, a political figure of influence and an ebullient critic of the conventional wisdom, he became one of the most respected figures of our time.
This book is a treasure trove culled from his papers, a cavalcade of comment, some of it deeply personal, on world affairs, domestic politics and literary matters extending from the end of the depression years to yesterday. There are intimate portraits of statesmen, writers, saints and charlatans, travel notes rang ing from Brazil to India, as well as forays into academic life and politics, not sparing his long-time base at Harvard.
The mood ranges from the sublime, with moving accounts of such old friends as David Niven and Barbara Ward, to superb ridicule centering on the grave faculty reaction to student sex at Har vard. Throughout, just below the amused and sometimes caustic surface, there is a generosity of spirit that brings the world into focus and makes even absurdity seem tolerable and almost normal.