In these conversations Isaiah Berlin, one of the most renowned thinkers of our time, discusses the development of his ideas and political philosophy, interspersing it with many personal reminiscences. He talks about Machiavelli, Marx, Vico, Herder and Herzen to name but a few of those who have influenced him. The conversations follow him from Petrograd to Oxford, from Washington to Moscow, from London to Jerusalem. He speaks of his friends and contemporaries, W.H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Igor Stravinsky, A.J. Ayer, Bertrand Russell and many others. He talks about his moving encounters with Anna Akhmatova, Boris Pasternak and Chaim Weizmann. He also shares with the reader his passion for music and literature, giving us an insight into his life and personality.