'It helps the reader understand where, under particular historical and political pressures, intellectuals in a certain tradition went wrong, or got things right. It offers a measured and detailed summary of the ways in which Sartre, his allies, their opponents and some of their successors intervened in political debates, from the purge of collaborators after liberation up to the attempted purge of sans papiers in the 1990s.' Times Literary Supplement 'Published to coincide with the centenary of Sartre's birth in 1905, this readable brief study affords a persuasive account of the man and the writer, in precisely the terms of the series to which it belongs, Life and Times: the basic narrative is structured biographically, with clear, informative amplification providing the political and intellectual context, reinforced by a tabulated chronology and a rigorously selective bibliography. Drake ... succeeds in providing a first-rate introduction for the general reader, secure in its analyses and balanced in its overview.' -- Professor Richard Parrish Times Higher Education Supplement
