Born in Chicago, John Gunther began a career in journalism in 1922 as a reporter for the Chicago Daily News. A war correspondent during World War II, Gunther later devoted all his time to writing and is famous for his Inside books. Following his fourth visit to Russia in 1956, he presented important as well as trivial facts in Inside Russia Today (1958). "The greatest service Mr. Gunther has done is to bring Russia down to a level we can all understand and talk and argue about" (N.Y. Times). In 1958 he received the Geographic Society of Chicago Publication Award for his Inside books. Unfortunately, Inside U.S.A. (1951) is out of print.
Gunther wrote several biographies and a deeply moving account of the death of his young son of a brain tumor, Death Be Not Proud (1949). His Procession (1965) is a group of sketches of international political figures drawn from his Inside books and from articles. Inside Australia (1972), completed and edited by William Forbis, was published posthumously.
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