The book presents a history of the Department of English and American studies at Masaryk University (Faculty of Arts) in Brno. The narrative is based on the methodology of “oral history”. The narrator is Don Sparling, long associated with the department and a former Head. The first chapter covers the foundation by Professor František Chudoba in 1920 and the interwar period. The following chapters deal with three periods: 1945 to 1977 (Don Sparling's arrival in the department); 1977–1989; and the subsequent period down to 2000. The last chapter sums up the history of an important part of life at the department, the Gypsywood Players theatre group.