A Life in the 20th Century: Innocent Beginnings, 1917–1950 by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

In A Life in the 20th Century, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. offers a deeply personal and intellectual memoir of the first half of his life. Spanning from his birth in 1917 through the aftermath of World War II, Schlesinger chronicles his formative years against the backdrop of the defining events of modern history. With elegance and insight, he recounts his education at Harvard, his evolving political ideals, and his encounters with the great thinkers and leaders of his time. Both a record of one man’s journey and a reflection on America’s transformation, this is an intimate portrait of an age of optimism, conflict, and change.