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In more than five decades as a reporter, editor and publisher, Peter Osnos has had an especially good view of momentous events and relationships with some of the most influential personalities of our time.

As a young journalist for I.F. Stone’s Weekly, one of the leading publications of the turbulent 1960s and in 18 years at The Washington Post, he covered the war in Vietnam and Cambodia, the Soviet Union at the height of Kremlin power, Washington D.C. as National Editor, Swinging London in the 60s and Thatcher’s Britain in the 1980s.

At Random House and the company he founded, PublicAffairs, he was responsible for books by four presidents -Carter, Clinton, Obama and Trump; celebrated Washington figures including Robert McNamara, House Speaker Tip O’Neill and Vernon Jordan, first ladies Rosalynn Carter and Nancy Reagan, the billionaire George Soros, basketball superstars Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Magic Johnson, legendary spies, political dissidents and the writers, Molly Ivins and Peggy Noonan, among many others.

In this unusually wide-ranging memoir, Osnos uses a reporter’s skills to portray historic events and encounters beginning with his parents’ extraordinary World War II experiences escaping Europe to India, where he was born, to the present day. He shares unique portraits of the famous people he worked with and an insider’s perspective of the news and publishing businesses. As he charts the evolution of his career and recent history, he also explores the influence and impact of family, character, curiosity, luck, resilience, a well-pressed suit and some unexpected wrinkles.

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Book Reviews

“Much of the memoir’s charm comes from Osnos’ candor and energy, and he concludes with a deeply personal retrospective of thought, grateful reflection, and pictorial extras that both seasoned and aspiring journalists will appreciate. … [A] meticulously detailed, inspiring journey of an American news reporter and publisher.”
Kirkus Reviews (Read the whole review)

Media for An Especially Good View

Wall Street Journal Review

Wall Street Journal

PBS NewsHour Interview

PBS NewsHour

TIME Magazine Interview

TIME Magazine

C-SPAN Interview

C-SPAN Interview

Remembering Vernon Jordan

Vernon Jordan

NPR Interview

Shelf Awareness Feature

Shelf Awareness