In search of history -- When does history happen? -- History by the ounce -- The historian as artist -- The historian's opportunity -- Problems in writing the biography of General Stilwell -- The houses of research -- Biography as a prism of history -- Japan: a clinical note -- Campaign train -- What Madrid reads -- "Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead" -- The final solution -- Israel: land of unlimited impossibilities -- Woodrow Wilson on Freud's couch -- How we entered World War I -- Israel's swift sword -- If Mao had come to Washington -- The assimilationist dilemma: Ambassador Morgenthau's story -- Kissinger: self-portrait -- Mankind's better moments -- Is history a guide to the future? -- Vietnam -- When, why, and how to get out -- Coalition in Vietnam- not worth one more life -- The citizen versus the military -- Historical clues to present discontents -- Generalship -- Why policy-makers do not listen -- Watergate and the presidency -- Should we abolish the presidency? -- A fear of the remedy -- A letter to the House of Representatives -- Defusing the presidency -- On our birthday- America as idea.

From thoughtful pieces on the historian's role to striking insights into America's past and present to trenchant observations on the international scene, Barbara W. Tuchman looks at history in a unique way and draws lessons from what she sees. Here is a splendid body of work, the story of a lifetime spent "practicing history."