Albert Camus is among the most significant French writers of the twentieth century. His novels, THE PLAGUE & THE OUTSIDER, have a timeless power & appeal & are studied all over the world, & his philosophical work has had an enduring influence. Oliver Todd has been authorised by Camus' family to write the definitive life. Opening with his impoverished childhood in Algiers, Todd brings the historical context to life, shedding light on Camus' later agonising conflict between sympathy for the working class Algerians & for the French colonials with a stake in their adopted l&. His life pre-sented impossible choices & perpetual struggle: his intimacy with the Gallimard family, despite their collaborationist activities; his involvement in the conflict between Satre & de Beauvoir; his own battles with debilitating bouts of tuberculosis & with the passion-ate, restless nature that would never let him settle. Because Todd understands his subject & his times so well, he brings to this rich, generous biography a rare immediacy & perception, evoking a great writer & his would with memorable force & engaging subtlety