Albert Camus called her "the only great spirit of our time." She was one of the most prominent French political thinkers of this century. She was a brilliant social activist, a vigilant and critical Marxist. Her religious and philosophical writings are remarkable in their originality. And yet Simone Weil died without ever writing a complete book and without ever formulating a major intellectual testament. In this study of her life and thought, John Hellman synthesizes insights drawn from her varied, fragmentary writings-notebooks, essays, and letters-into a single, highly original view of the world. This fascinating book reinforces the belief that Simone Weil remains one of the most imaginative and out-of-the-ordinary forces in twentieth-century political thought and social activism. "Simone Weil was a mischievous, often playful individual, with a good sense of humour and that special sense of irony . . . She brought fresh and astute solutions to a host of spiritual problems; she thought about history, politics and modern scientific culture in a new and stimulating way." --from the Foreword John Hellman is Professor of History at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He specializes in European Intellectual and Modern French History.