Perhaps the most influential philosopher of the twentieth century, Albert Camus (1913-1960), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, is more relevant today than ever before. Committed Writing brings together, for the first time, thematically-linked essays from across Camus's writing career that reflect the scope of his political preoccupations. Featuring a foreword by acclaimed Camus scholar Alice Kaplan (author of Looking for The Stranger), this volume will introduce a new generation of readers to this cultural icon.
This new collection contains some of Camus' most brilliant political writing as he reflects on moral responsibility and the artist's role in the world. Letters to a German Friend, written and published underground during the Nazi occupation of France, was born out of Camus' experience in the Resistance and explores what it truly means to love your country. Reflections on the Guillotine, his passionate polemic against the death penalty, became a touchstone for the movement to abolish capital punishment. At the same time, in his Nobel speeches, Camus argues that the artist must engage with dangerous times. Together these powerful pieces express Camus' mistrust of rigid ideologies and his commitment to human solidarity.

'Probably no European writer of his time left so deep a mark on the imagination' Conor Cruise O'Brien.