"The book is divided into three parts, reflecting Konvitz's range of intellectual interests. The nine essays offer concise intellectual biographies of three American Jewish philosophers, three Supreme Court Justices, and three rabbis. The philosophers - Horace M. Kallen, Morris Raphael Cohen, and Sidney Hook - are world-renowned. The jurists - Louis D. Brandeis, Benjamin N. Cardozo, and Felix Frankfurter - hold prominent places in American legal history.

And the three rabbis - Leo Jung, Robert Gordis, and Jacob Agus - are known wherever Jewish thought is studied. By treating with equal seriousness the lives and writings of both religious and secularist thinkers, the author intentionally minimizes the conventional antagonism and frequent conflict between religion and secularism.

A feature of the book is the fact that the author was a close friend of six of the persons whose lives and work are examined, allowing him a perceptive insight into their character and thought."--BOOK JACKET.