More than just a detailed life story, this fine and carefully written biography actually does justice to McLuhan's ideas. Gordon evocatively portrays McLuhan's central place in the ferment of the 1960s and explains the formation of his brilliant insights into the media. Escape Into Understanding is a discriminating and passionate portrait of one of the 20th Century's truly great men. It traces McLuhan's life from its beginning in the prairie city of Edmonton, Alberta, through his education at Cambridge and his teaching career in America to his startling breakthroughs in communication while at the University of Toronto. Wherever he went, McLuhan left the indelible memory of his passion for learning as a vital legacy among colleagues, friends and acquaintances. This is the man Gordon successfully evokes in this superb biography.