Commemorates an immensely erudite academic community, a global Republic of Letters, drawn from many nations and disciplines. Now in his late 80s, Brown looks back on those years and the people he met with nostalgia and gratitude.

This meticulous and lively account of his intellectual development lovingly acknowledges all the scholars—from his school days onward—whose work helped shape his own. Written primarily for historians, it is also accessible and interesting to general readers.

Gripping.

A scintillating intellectual autobiography and an evocative traversal of lost worlds.

Insightful and detailed.