Wartime Diary

Beauvoir's clandestine affair with Jacques Bost and sexual relationships with various young women challenge the conventional picture of Beauvoir as the devoted companion of Jean-Paul Sartre. At the same time, her account of completing her novel at a time when Sartre had just begun questions the traditional view of Beauvoir’s novel as merely illustrating Sartre’s philosophy. also traces Beauvoir's philosophical transformation as she broke from the prewar solipsism of in favor of the postwar political engagement of Beauvoir's emerging existentialist ethics reflect the dramatic collective experiences of refugees fleeing German invasion and life under Nazi occupation. The evolution of her thought also reveals the courageous reaffirmation of her individuality in constructing a humanist ethics of freedom and solidarity. This edition also features previously unpublished material, including her musings about consciousness and order, recommended reading lists, and notes on labor unions. In providing new insights into Beauvoir’s philosophical development, the promises to rewrite a crucial chapter of Western philosophy and intellectual history.