"As each generation turns to make its exit from the stage it hears a disagreeable sound. People in the audience are talking, not listening; they are indifferent to what their elders are saying on stage, worse they are uttering heresies." Thus begins a chapter entitled "Our Vision of Life Rejected." This pessimistic conclusion to Our Age, defined by Annan as the generation that graduated from Oxbridge between 1919 to 1951, captures the spirit of this book covering the life of a remarkable cohort of British intellectuals. It's a fascinating story, but with the exception of a few notable characters, the participants rarely come alive, just their ideas, which may be the point.

I remember the rancor this book provoked upon publication. It was too close to home at the time. With the retrospect of years, it fells less haughty and more nostalgic: a eulogy for the generation that oversaw the transition of Great Britain from an empire to a reluctant member of the European Community, a generation whose work was undone by the Thatcher revolution. Annan is an engaging and witty guide; however, the book loses steam as it moves from advances in philosophy and history to the minutia of British politics and educational reform. ( )