The wife of an American Ambassador to Russia here gives her own lively, personal account of the two years she and her husband, Admiral Alan G. Kirk, recently spent in our government’s most difficult and crucial diplomatic post. Drawn from her unique first-hand experiences and her alert, penetrating observations, Mrs. Lydia Kirk’s accurate, informative, and warmly human report on Russia today merits the careful attention of every American reader. As first lady of the largest embassy in the Russian capital, Mrs. Kirk was mistress of the most lavish home allowed to outsiders, and her sparkling descriptions of the elegant formal affairs over which she presided bring to life the faces and figures of top Russian statesmen and their rarely-seen wives. As she tells of the thrilling afternoon when she had tea with Madame Vishinsky or notes an amusing encounter with Madame Gromyko, she reveals that these gay social occasions were often fraught with international significance. Mrs. Kirk also came close to the Russian people through the cooks, laundresses, and gardeners at Spaso House, and through the "little men", their ever-present secret service-guards.