[A] wonderfully gifted and energetic writer. . . . Noel was one of the few figures in English public life known simply by his first name. There was no mistaking him for anyone else.-Jonathan Mirsky, New YorkerFor over two hundred years, Oxford and Cambridge were home to some of Britain's greatest teachers, each forming the minds of students and influencing the practice of university learning everywhere. These teachers-the "dons"-are at the heart of this lovingly crafted and supremely engaging book. Noel Annan, a member of the rank himself, recalls these great minds in all their glorious idiosyncrasy, reminding us who they were, what they were like, and why they mattered.