The Man of Only Yesterday: Frederick Lewis Allen

This is a very well written, comprehensive biography of Frederick Lewis Allen (1890-1953), and one of the most important editors (Harper's)of the first half of the 20th century.Allen himself was an excellent writer, and produced several highly readable and engaging histories of the 1920's (Only Yesterday) and 1930's (Since Yesterday) that I also highly recommend. I remember being assigned these books in U.S. History in high school, and being captivated.What I find so interesting about this book is the window it provides into American life during this time period. Because Allen was so engaged in the world (longtime editor of Harper's, overseer of Harvard, best-selling author), one gleans a great deal of insight into how society operated in those realms.