This is one of the most interesting books on international economics to appear in years. As the Federal Reserve Bank official who bought and sold dollars in world markets from 1961 to 1975, Coombs was on the frontier of some remarkable events. He combines history, memoir and economic analysis to provide a vivid inside view that is probably unique in the literature of central banking. Basically discreet, the book is also very critical of the methods and policies that led to the "unnecessary degradation of the dollar."