Simone de Beauvoir: Creating a Feminist Existence in the World
situates Beauvoir's life and works in historical context, charting how
she was enmeshed in most twentieth-century events and developments
ranging from World War Two, to Decolonization, and to the Cold War. Her
work considered numerous topics of contemporary relevance, like
socialist politics, feminism, war crimes, human rights, and the
possibilities and limits of political activism in support of social
justice. Building on recent scholarship, this biography focuses
especially on the colonial, transnational, and postcolonial influences
that shaped Beauvoir and emphasizes her paradoxical and complicated
relationship to politics. Written in accessible and lively prose, the
book is divided into seven chapters and includes lesser-known photos of
Beauvoir alongside primary sources of both historical and contemporary
interest.
We live in a global age where big concepts like "globalization" often
tempt us to forget the personal side of the past. The titles in The
World in a Life series aim to revive these meaningful lives. Each one
shows us what it was like to live on a world historical stage. Brief,
inexpensive, and thematic, each book can be read in a week, fit within a
wide range of curricula, and shed insight into a particular place or
time. Four to six short primary sources at the end of each volume
sharpen the reader's view of an individual's impact on world history.
