I: 1912 to 1946: Early life -- Undergraduate years -- University of Chicago and Columbia -- Rose -- World War II -- Return to academe -- II: 1946 to 1976: Department of economics -- ´Positive economics´ -- Family -- Professor -- A theory of the consumption function -- Keynes -- A monetary history of the United States -- Chicago school of economics -- Capitalism and freedom -- Travel and Goldwater -- Colleagues -- Public intellectual and policy proposals -- Nixon and the Nobel prize -- III: 1977 to 2006: Free to choose -- Reagan and international influence -- Hayek and the role of ideas -- School vouchers and social issues -- Friedman prize.