Why read The Visionaries?

Book cover of The Visionaries: Arendt, Beauvoir, Rand, Weil, and the Power of Philosophy in Dark Times

Book description

'The question Eilenberger sets out to answer in this ambitious, enthralling book: what use is philosophy in the middle of a war?' The Sunday Times

The year is 1933. Hannah Arendt escapes Berlin, seeking refuge among the stateless gathering in Paris. Simone de Beauvoir reimagines the dance between consciousness and…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Visionaries as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Lydia Moland

Author

What a cast of characters, and what a time to be alive! This book weaves biographies of four women who asked why during one of the most perilous decades of history: 1933-1943.

It traces the lives of philosophers Hannah Arendt, Simone de Beauvoir, Ayn Rand, and Simone Weil as they flee or fight fascism, become refugees or combatants, lean politically left or right—and it takes them seriously as the philosophers they were throughout.

I loved how the book shows that these women’s thought deeply informed their lives during dangerous times. It was humbling to witness their courage and exhilarating to…

From Lydia's list on women who asked why.