Beyond East and West: Memoirs, Portraits and Essays

Bernard Leach (1887-1979) was as renowned in Japan and the East as in Europe and America,

both as an artist-craftsman and as a thinker. His interpretation of the traditions of the Orient

in the making of pots - and in evolving a philosophy of life - was a lodestar for many potters in

the West.

Beyond East and West*, first published in 1978, is more than an autobiography. Full of sharply-

etched and amusing recollections, it contains much of Leach’s deeper thought and a great deal

too about the practical application of his ideas. Its recurrent theme is the meeting of East and

West at all levels - artistic, cultural, social, political.