"In this memoir, Merrill D. Peterson traces his progress from a young Kansas Republican to a "Left Liberal" Democrat by reconstructing how the New Republic singularly influenced his intellectual development and academic career during some of the most turbulent years in American history - the final years of the Great Depression through World War II and the beginnings of the Cold War, Peterson recalls how, as a young man, he was guided to intellectual maturity by such extraordinary individuals as Max Lerner, Archibald MacLeish, Vincent Sheean, Alfred Kazin, Lewis Mumford, and Malcolm Cowley - all contributors to this important magazine. We look back, with Peterson, and see how their views are inextricably reflected in his own developing worldview."--Jacket. "Peterson weaves together the fresh reading, the history of the country during the 1940s, and his own personal history to give us the heart of the book. In addition, he includes brief essays on Vernon L. Parrington, Lewis Mumford, and Max Lerner, the three American writers and intellectuals he believes had the most influence on him."--Jacket.