During his extraordinary broadcasting career of over sixty years Alistair Cooke encountered many legendary figures, in the varied worlds of journalism, politics, public life, sport and entertainment. This is his highly personal account of just six of those remarkable men that he knew and admired. Here are candid portraits of the lovable yet unreliable Charlie Chaplin, who, when asked to be Cooke's best man, mysteriously vanished on the wedding day; the charming yet childlike `golden boy' Edward VIII; Cooke's mentor, the flawed contrarian and satirist H. L. Mencken; Humphrey Bogart, revealing the complex and private man behind the tough guy-image; the larger-than-life liberal politician Adlai Stevenson; and the heroic social reformer Bertrand Russell. Each superbly realized description is a masterpiece of observation, warmth and humour, recalling a golden age of `great men'.