President of Yale University from 1978 to 1986 and before that professor of English at Yale, A. Bartlett Giamatti was one of the voices that most clearly articulated the role of the university in the modern world. In twenty-four essays here, Mr. Giamatti explores the relationship of the university to government, industry, and the private sector. He defines the essence of liberal education, rooted in freedom, dedicated to learning for its own sake. He exposes menace of ideologues of any stripe who would impose on the university a limiting political, religious, or social agenda. Throughout, Giamatti sets forth his commitment to an education that “will constantly test rather than impose the values it cherishes.”