Between 1931 and 1935, Bertrand Russell contributed some 156 essays to the literary pages of the American newspaper New York American . These were often fun, humorous observations on the very real issues of the day, such as the Depression, the rise of Nazism and Prohibition, to more perennial themes such as love, parenthood, education and friendship. Available for the first time in the Routledge Classics series in a single volume, this pithy, provocative and often-personal collection of essays brings together the very best of Russells many contributions to the New York American , and proves just as engaging for todays readers as they were in the 1930s.