Simone de Beauvoir

Sandrine Sanos is a cultural and intellectual historian of Modern Europe, educated in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Her scholarship and teaching focus on 20th century France and its empire, specifically the intersections of gender and sexuality, the relation of aesthetics and politics, the question of violence, war, exile, and feminist theory. Her book, The Aesthetics of Hate: Far-Right Intellectuals, Antisemitism and Gender in 1930s France was published in 2012 by Stanford University Press. She has also written about European film and French literature and received awards for her teaching and scholarship. Her current work examines the cultural representation of violence, displacement, and gender in France after 1945.

This is a terrific book. We have very little that is historical on Beauvoir, which is ironic and a shame, given Beauvoir's determination to be so fully 'engaged' in her time. Sanos's biography is not only historical, it is good, up-to-date historical, and it raises and lays out issues that are rarely considered the purview of Beauvoir scholars, including Vichy, the Holocaust and its aftermath, and the Algerian war. - Judith G. Coffin, Univeristy of Texas at Austin

• List of Illustrations List of MapsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction 1. The Dutiful Daughter: Obligations, Hopes, and Possibilities: 1909-19392. Living Through the War: Responsibilities and Choices: 1939-19443. Becoming an Author: Desires, Dialogues, and Engagement: 1945-19544. Being A Woman: The Making of A Feminist Philosophy: 1949 and After5. Being Free in the World: Ethics and Engagement: 1954-19646. Acting in the World: Politics, Paradoxes, and Disillusions: 1961-19707. Reflecting on the World: Feminism, Fame, and Scandal: 1970-1986 Primary Documents & Study Questions: "An Eye for an Eye" (1946) Introduction, The Second Sex (1949) Introduction, Djamila Boupacha (1962) Chapter 7, The Force of Circumstance (1963) Introduction, The Bobigny Affair Report (1973) Further Reading CreditsIndex