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Autobiography, even if it can tell only part of the truth, has a fascination, for it reveals a person's judgment of what he thinks his own life and experience may contain of general interest and importance. Every man is important to himself. There are many reasons why this book interested me. I know the author, though only slightly. He was born and bred near Charlottesville, so the description of his boyhood days near the Blue Ridge and Ragged Mountains evokes a warm feeling of nostalgia. His description of experiences in medical school, where my father taught him anatomy, evoke further memories. Pugh's experience in World War I and his later decision to enter the Naval Medical Corps are described with feeling. The latter part of his life, one of steady progression upward in Navy medical affairs, led to his appointment as Surgeon General of the Navy in the 1950's when