This novel uses a fictional approach to present a concept of the ideal college of the twenty-first century. A foreword is by William J. Bennett, former Secretary of Education. The novel's main character is a 71-year-old billionaire, industrialist, and war hero, who is dying of cancer and plans to endow a new college with his fortune. The proposed college is seen to differ radically from those that exist today, although its roots derive from classic educational goals. The book is organized around five major educational questions: (1) "What is our mission?"; (2) "Who should our students be?"; (3) "How should they live?"; (4) "What should they learn?"; and (5) "Who should lead and teach them?" The novel describes how students will be chosen (no college admissions tests but evidence of moral and physical courage); the college site (the high plains of Wyoming), the structure of the campus, and the college calendar and curriculum; and operational details such as the daily schedule and recruitment of teachers and mentors. The book also reveals how the ideals of the college have resulted from the main character's life and times filled with both success and personal tragedy, his and the nation's experience of Vietnam, and his leadership in the computer revolution. (DB)