John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) was one of America s most famous economists for good reason. From his acerbic analysis of America s private wealth and public squalor to his denunciation of the wars in Vietnam and Iraq Galbraith consistently challenged conventional wisdom (a phrase he coined). He did so as a witty commentator on America s political follies and as a versatile author of bestselling books--such as The Affluent Society and The New Industrial State--that warn of the dangers of deregulated markets corporate greed and inattention to the costs of our military power. Here in the first full-length biography of Galbraith and his times Richard Parker provides not only a nuanced portrait of this extraordinary man but also an important reinterpretation of twentieth-century public policy and economic practices. Whatever you may think of his ideas John Kenneth Galbraith has led an extraordinary life. . . . Doing justice to this life story requires an outsize biography one that not only tells Mr. Galbraith s tale but sets it on the broader canvas of America s political and economic evolution. And Richard Parker s book does just that. --Economist Parker s book is more than a chronicle of Galbraith s life; it s a history of American politics and policy from FDR through George W. Bush. . . . It will make readers more economically and politically aware. --USA Today The most readable and instructive biography of the century. --William F. Buckley National Review The story of this man s life and work is wonderfully rendered in this magnum opus and offers an antidote to the public ennui economic cruelty and government malfeasance that poison life in America today. --James Carroll Boston Globe