《胡适英文口述自传》是胡适对自己一生学术研究的总结评价。20世纪50年代，胡适应哥伦比亚大学“中国口述历史学部”之请，受唐德刚采访，以英文口述生平，总结一生学术思想，于1958年完成十六次正式录音。英文文稿由唐德刚根据录音整理而成，并于1959年经胡适手订。

《胡适英文口述自传》中，从投身文学革命，到审视中国哲学史，到重新发现禅宗的历史，再到批判性地研究白话小说，忆及文学、史学、哲学等方面主要思想。 《胡适英文口述自传》共分三部分：1）家庭与早年生活，2）在美国的学生生活（1910—1917），3）投身中国文艺复兴事业。

The Personal Reminiscences of Dr. Hu Shih is a product of sixteen taped interviews done in 1958 with the assistance of Dr. Te-kong Tong, then a staff member of the Chinese Oral History Project of the East Asian Institute of Columbia University, and edited by Dr. Hu in 1959. It is a retrospective account of his fertile scholarly career more than a life history. He discusses the early influences that shaped his theories of literary reform. He then reflects on his analyses of early Chinese philosophy, his discoveries in the history of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism, and his critical studies of major Chinese novels.

The manuscript is divided into three major sections: 1) Family and Early Life; 2) Student Days in the United States (1910-1917); 3) Working for a Chinese Renaissance. Although terminated by Dr. Hu's death, the autobiography retains his direct conversational style, polished by his own hand. It is the last extensive work in English by this eminent world figure.