The Years In Between

About the Book

911 and the Iraq War triggered Margaret Croyden’s memories of her long ago encounters with war, when she was “embedded” with American occupation troops in France and Germany just after World War II. Her experiences as an actress in an Army unit that entertained the troops launched her transformation from a provincial Brooklyn girl dreaming of glamorous Broadway stardom into an international theater journalist. Drawing from diaries, tapes, and memories, she recounts her youthful adventures and struggles and a later transformation, this time ideological, wrought by visits to Berlin, Moscow, Leningrad, Beirut, and Jerusalem to report the theater scene and interview cultural and political leaders. Her vivid descriptions reveal a sharp mind, a critical eye, a humanistic sensibility, and a fearless dedication to the truth.

About the Author

MARGARET CROYDEN is a well-known theater critic and journalist who has written for The New York Times, The Village Voice, and other publications. She also authored several books, among them the definitive Lunatics, Lovers and Poets: The Contemporary Experimental Theater. Her memoir, In the Shadow of the Flame: Three Journeys, was acclaimed for its vivid, expressive writing, and Conversations with Peter Brook: 1970-2000 is a unique portrait of the renowned theater director. Ms. Croyden has lectured widely in the United States and abroad and was as well a college professor of English literature for many years. She also regularly interviewed major theatrical figures on CBS-TV's former long running arts program, "Camera Three." In 2003 she received a Lifetime Achievement award from the League of Professional Theater Women.