A Time of Change: A Reporter's Tale of Our Time

In his reporter's notebook, Salisbury describes how he gathered material for his 1960 articles on racial violence in the South, provides perspective on his controversial Vietnam war pieces from Hanoi, offers his views on various presidents, officials and issues from the early '60s into the Reagan era and shares in-house lore from the offices of the New York Times. Much of the journal deals with China: U.S. policy toward the People's Republic, the relationship between Mao and Stalin, and Salisbury's admiration for Zhou Enlai (""No man I have met in a lifetime has made so deep a mark on me''). The expressed theme of the book is ``the virtue and total necessity of reporting the unpopular event at the mostespeciallyat the most difficult touchy moment.'' In this engrossing memoir, rich in memorable quotes (Nixon is described as ``the most complicated, smartest, and stupidest President of our times''), Salisbury reveals how he went about his job and what the ramifications were. 20,000 first printing; author tour. (March)