A journalist once asked Y.V. Reddy, Governor, how independent is the RBI? I am very independent, Reddy replied. The RBI has full autonomy. I have the permission of my finance minister to tell you that. Reddy put it lightly, but it is a theme he deals with at length in Advice and Dissent. He provides an insider s account of decision-making at all levels during his career in public service, which began when he joined the IAS in 1964. Firm and unafraid to speak his mind in his dealings, he nevertheless avoided open discord, and alludes to controversies on key policy decisions which reverberate even now. In a book that appeals to the lay reader and the finance specialist alike, he lays out the debate and thinking behind landmark events and initiatives whose benefits reached the man on the street. Reddy shares his experience of working closely with some of the architects of India s economic change: Manmohan Singh, Bimal Jalan, C. Rangarajan, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh and P. Chidambaram. He also worked closely with transformative leaders like N.T. Rama Rao. As governor of the RBI from 2003 to 2008, he presided over a period of high growth, low inflation, stable rupee and ample foreign exchange reserves a far cry from the 1991 crisis when the country mortgaged its gold to meet its debt obligations. He is credited with saving the Indian banking system from the sub-prime and liquidity crisis of 2008 that erupted shortly after his term at the RBI ended. Leavened with his irrepressible sense of humour, Advice and Dissent is a warm, engaging account of a life that moves easily from his career in the districts as a young IAS officer to the higher echelons of policy making, in a trajectory that follows change in the country itself.