This invaluable book not only assesses the life and work of one of Europe's most important and innovative writers, it also casts revealing light on crucial areas of French cultural, social, and political history.

Nicholas Hewitt is Professor of French at the University of Nottingham, and has taught previously at the universities of Hull, Southampton and Warwick. He has written widely on French literary and cultural history from the end of the First World War to the 1960s, including studies on Troyat, French interwar "malaise", Céline, and the postwar French literary Right.