Over the last thirty years Christopher Hitchens has established himself as one of the world's most influential public intellectuals. His originality, bravery, range and wit made him first a leading iconoclast of the political left, and then later a formidable advocate of secular liberalism. As a socialist he opposed the war in Vietnam, after September 11 he emerged as one of the fiercest advocates of war in Iraq. In this candid memoir, Hitchens retraces the footsteps of his life to date, from his childhood in Portsmouth with his adoring, tragic mother and reserved Naval officer father; to his life in Washington DC, the base from which he would launch fierce attacks on tyranny of all kinds. Along the way, he recalls the girls, boys and booze; the friendships and the feuds; the grand struggles and lost causes; and the mistakes and misgivings that have characterised his life. Hitch-22 is, by turns, moving and funny, charming and irascible and inspiring. It is an indispensable companion to the life and thought of an outstanding political writer.