Romain Rolland And The Politics Of Intellectual Engagement
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
At the turbulent crossroads of art and politics in twentieth-century Europe stands Romain Rolland — Nobel Prize-winning novelist, pacifist, and one of France's most controversial public intellectuals — and David James Fisher's commanding study chronicles his lifelong struggle to reconcile creative independence with political commitment. Set against the backdrop of two World Wars, the rise of fascism, and the seductive pull of Soviet communism, this meticulously researched biography uncovers the ideological tensions that defined Rolland's career, from his celebrated friendship with figures such as Stefan Zweig and Maxim Gorky to his fraught engagements with Gandhi and the French left. Fisher argues with precision and authority that Rolland's concept of the engaged intellectual — one who speaks truth to power from a position of moral independence — remains a vital and contested legacy in Western cultural history. Drawing on archival sources and a command of French intellectual life, Fisher's prose is measured yet absorbing, presenting Rolland not merely as a historical curiosity but as a mirror reflecting the enduring dilemmas faced by writers who dare to enter the political arena. For anyone drawn to the intersection of literature, ideology, and conscience, this work poses a question that refuses easy resolution: can the artist ever truly remain free?
Author: David James Fisher
Format: Hardback
Genre: Biography
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
At the turbulent crossroads of art and politics in twentieth-century Europe stands Romain Rolland — Nobel Prize-winning novelist, pacifist, and one of France's most controversial public intellectuals — and David James Fisher's commanding study chronicles his lifelong struggle to reconcile creative independence with political commitment. Set against the backdrop of two World Wars, the rise of fascism, and the seductive pull of Soviet communism, this meticulously researched biography uncovers the ideological tensions that defined Rolland's career, from his celebrated friendship with figures such as Stefan Zweig and Maxim Gorky to his fraught engagements with Gandhi and the French left. Fisher argues with precision and authority that Rolland's concept of the engaged intellectual — one who speaks truth to power from a position of moral independence — remains a vital and contested legacy in Western cultural history. Drawing on archival sources and a command of French intellectual life, Fisher's prose is measured yet absorbing, presenting Rolland not merely as a historical curiosity but as a mirror reflecting the enduring dilemmas faced by writers who dare to enter the political arena. For anyone drawn to the intersection of literature, ideology, and conscience, this work poses a question that refuses easy resolution: can the artist ever truly remain free?