This biography of A. James Speyer traces his early career as a student of Mies van der Rohe in Chicago. During the 1940s and 1950s he taught architecture under Mies while completing glass and steel projects in Chicago and Pittsburgh. In 1957 Speyer travelled to Greece on a Fulbright fellowship, and taught at the Polytechneon in Athens. he later became Curator of Twentieth Century Painting and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago, holding this position for 25 years and mounting many innovative exhibitions. The book includes essays by Franz Schulze and six of Speyer's friends.