"If the purpose of autobiography is to make the reader like the author more than before, Maurois succeeds... The book begins with his idyllic family background, his primary school and university years and the powerful influence of his teacher, the great Alain. He then describes his life as a young soldier attached to the British Army in the First World War, his rebuilding of the family business after the war, and his disengagement from the family business to become a writer. Maurois' Memoirs reveal a man of action, intellect, and profound tenderness- writer, patriot, son and husband.

The first part of this work was published in 1942, in French under title: Mémoires; in English translation under title: I remember, I remember