John Steinbeck's writing was fuelled by the need to observe things first-hand, whether as a journalist or a novelist. The success of "The Grapes of Wrath" enabled him to travel the world, ceaselessly writing about the great events of each decade. This collection brings together the greatest of these dispatches - from countries as diverse as Vietnam, Britain, Morocco and Italy. It also reproduces "America and the Americans", an account of the US in the 1960s based on Steinbeck's observations on racism, moral decline and the environment. The book demonstrates just how important journalism was to Steinbeck's career as a writer.