This book is a thoroughly engaging depiction of the life and work of a Canadian farm boy who went on to become a jet-setting celebrity. Over a career that spanned three-quarters of a century, John Kenneth Galbraith became the world ` s most famous economist, a confidant in presidential politics and an iconic figure in progressive American liberalism. This great Public Intellectual led us all to consider the dangers of an obsolete Conventional Wisdom, the complexities of an Affluent Society, and the implications of the emergence of powerful organizations. This book demonstrates the relevance of Galbraith ` s ideas to the current global economic crisis and beyond to the endemic problems of capitalism. It conveys his inveterate optimism that an evolutionary, pragmatic, and behavioral political economy can guide us to a reformed democratic capitalism that is economically, socially, and ecologically sustainable. This book is essential reading for all interested in the history of economic thought and political economy.