This is an abridged version of Powell's four volumes memoirs, which were published between 1976 and 1982. Anthony Powell earnt the reputation of being a literary giant within the generation of Waugh, Orwell and Greene. He is probably best known for his 12 volume work "A Dance to the Music of Time". These memoirs reveal Powell the man and author, and also provide an inside view of the British literary scene and social elite, from the 1920's to the 1980s. Powell observes the obsenity trial sparked by "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and Shirley Temple's libel suit after Graham Greene reviewed "Wee Willie Winkie" with "more than his usual verve". He also paints vivid portraits of other authors, such as Kingsley Amis, V.S. Naipaul, T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf.