Contains primary source material. A memoir of the author's experiences as a corespondent for the New York Times based in Europe during World War II and its immediate aftermath. It is a very detailed accounting that covers all of the major political players and important events that shaped the era.

Sequel : The last of the giants. Includes index.

L'Envoi -- Fond and special light -- Tales from the Vienna morgue -- Where anything could happen and generally did -- Hamlet among the eagle men -- Cherry tree gun -- Case of the loud-speaking corpse -- War wait -- Jackaling -- Annus Mirabilis -- Stalin at bay -- God makes and exception -- Hitchhiking around the axis -- Edge of the whirlwind -- Dividing the spoils -- In the wake of the war -- Last fascist state -- Civil strife in Greece -- De Gaulle seeks a comeback -- New state is born -- Of Communists and kings -- Russo-Chinese trouble starts -- Orbit of Asia -- Cold War Europe -- De Gaulle and Eisenhower -- Eisenhower enters politics -- From general to president -- New Africa -- Germany recovers -- Giants can do nothing now -- Semicolon.