ルネサンス期フランスを代表する思想家のミシェル・ド・モンテーニュ（1533-92年）は「随筆」という文学形式の創始者として遍く知られる存在です。しかし宗教戦争の渦中にあったその生涯に目をやると、新教・旧教の勢力が拮抗する時代に異なる立場の融和を目指した調停者としての姿勢や政治的活動が浮かび上がります。晩年に執筆したモラリスト文学の傑作『エセー』（随想録）をそうした文脈に位置づけ、生涯、思想、著述を考察します。既に作品に親しんでいる読者にも、その思想に初めて触れる方にもお薦めの概説書です。
 

• Serves as a comprehensive overview of Montaigne's life and writings
• Illustrates features of Montaigne's prose that are often lost in translation, such as his reliance on image and metaphor, his biting humor and irony, and his colloquial bluntness
• Concentrates on topics in the Essays that will be of greatest interest to present-day readers

  
The French author Michel de Montaigne is widely regarded as the founder and greatest practitioner of the personal essay. A member of the minor aristocracy, he worked as a judicial investigator, served as mayor of Bordeaux, and sought to bring stability to his war-torn country during the latter half of the sixteenth century. He is best known today, however, as the author of the Essays, a vast collection of meditations on topics ranging from love and sexuality to freedom, learning, doubt, self-scrutiny, and peace of mind. One of the most original books ever to emerge from Europe, Montaigne's masterpiece has been continuously and powerfully influential among writers and philosophers from its first appearance down to the present day. His extraordinary curiosity and discernment, combined with his ability to mix thoughtful judgment with revealing anecdote, make him one of the most readable of all writers.
  
In Montaigne: A Very Short Introduction, William M. Hamlin provides an overview of Montaigne's life, thought, and writing, situating the Essays within the arc of Montaigne's lived experience and focusing on themes of particular interest for contemporary readers. Designed for a broad audience, this introduction will appeal to first-time students of Montaigne as well as to seasoned experts and admirers. Well-informed and lucidly written, Hamlin's book offers an ideal point of entry into the life and work of the world's first and most extraordinary essayist.