These are short portraits of ten significant twentieth century figures, acquaintances of the author, ranging from the poet Auden and the mystery writer Agatha Christie to political figures like Nancy Astor, Lord Beaverbrook, and Winston Churchill. Historians will be particularly interested to read Rowse's accounts of G.M. Trevelyan and Samuel Eliot Morison. Throughout, Rowse lives up to his reputation as a vain but witty controversialist. Some people will probably find Rowse's conceits to be "too much," but I find him to be more than tolerable in small doses. ( )