Milton Friedman is one of the world's most important - and certainly one of the most famous - economists of the second half of the twentieth century, a key figure during the resurgence of American conservatism. He was an adviser to the Reagan administration, and he made headlines for his advocacy of a negative income tax and for controversial visits Chile and South Africa. Alan Ebenstein's book is the first to chronicle Friedman's life and trace his development as an economic theorist. With its combination of personal detail and theoretical analysis, it offers a revealing look at the man regarded by many as a hero of libertarianism and laissez-faire economics.