The first edition contained 23 articles, all of which had been previously published in newspaper/magazine form. The articles are listed below, along with original publication venues and dates. Unlike the later 'Great Contemporaries', the content of the English language editions remained constant. The last two articles - 'Hobbies' and 'Painting as a Pastime' - were subsequently issued in volume form under the title 'Painting as a Pastime'.

Contents

• Preface
• A Second Choice [Strand March 1931]
• Cartoons and Cartoonists [Strand June 1931]
• Consistency in Politics [Pall Mall July 1927]
• Personal Contacts [Strand February 1931]
• The Battle of Sidney Street [Pall Mall February 1924]
• The German Splendour [Cosmopolitan August 1924]
• My Spy Story [Cosmopolitan September 1924]
• With the Grenadiers [Cosmopolitan April 1926]
• 'Plugstreet' [Pall Mall March 1924]
• The U-Boat War [Daily Telegraph 16, 18, 23 and 25 November 1931]
• The Dover Barrage [Daily Telegraph 30 November 1931]
• Ludendorff's 'All or Nothing' [Daily Telegraph 14 July 1930]
• A Day with Clemenceau [Strand December 1930]
• In the Air [Pall Mall June 1924]
• Election Memories [Strand September 1931]
• The Irish Treaty [Pall Mall January 1924]
• Parliamentary Government and the Economic Problem [Clarendon Press 1930]
• Shall We All Commit Suicide? [Pall Mall September 1924]
• Mass Effects in Modern Life [Strand May 1931]
• Fifty Years Hence [Strand December 1931]
• Moses [Sunday Chronicle 8 November 1931]
• Hobbies [Pall Mall December 1925]
• Painting as a Pastime [Strand December 1921 - January 1922]