A profile presentation of the leading contemporary conductors, these sketches combine personal history and character commentary with the progression of their careers, enlivened by occasional anecdotes and epigrams...With an introduction on the functions and qualifications of the conductor, the trends -- from disregard to deification of this office- Ewen goes on to individual portraiture:- Toscanini, a legend in his lifetime- the majesty of the man as well as the artist; the showmen (Stokowski, Koussevitzky, Mitropoulos, etc.); the dynamic conductors (Ormandy, Reiner, etc.); the Americans (Damrosch, Stock); the Europeans, and those of lesser stature. The appraisals, which indicate exaggeration and limitation as well as attribute, are balanced, informative and popularly attuned.