The Lives of Michel Foucault - by David Macey (Paperback)

About the Book

The most comprehensive study of the controversial French thinker--and of his place in the history of philosophy. As public as Foucault was in his militant campaigns on behalf of prisoners, dissidents, and homosexuals, his private life was mysterious: he tried to destroy all documents that might offer clues to his personality.

Book Synopsis

When he died of an AIDS-related condition in 1984, Michel Foucault had become the most influential French philosopher since the end of World War II. His powerful studies of the creation of modern medicine, prisons, psychiatry, and other methods of classification have had a lasting impact on philosophers, historians, critics, and novelists the world over. But as public as he was in his militant campaigns on behalf of prisoners, dissidents, and homosexuals, he shrouded his personal life in mystery.

In The Lives of Michel Foucault -- written with the full cooperation of Daniel Defert, Foucault's former lover -- David Macey gives the richest account to date of Foucault's life and work, informed as it is by the complex issues arising from his writings.

Review Quotes

"Admirable...yields a vivid picture of Foucault."

-- New Republic

"David Macey's The Lives of Michel Foucault is the third, and probably the last, Foucault biography to appear in English.... It is also the best: fuller in its source and freer in their use...preferable, in terms of moral intelligence, maturity and poise." -- The Times Literary Supplement

About the Author

David Macey is a historian, translator, and the author of Lacan in Context, The Lives of Michel Foucault, and Frantz Fanon: A Biography. He is the translator of more than 20 works.