This classic biography of Michel de Montaigne—the Renaissance philosopher and a founding father of humanism—is a heartfelt argument for the importance of intellectual freedom and tolerance. Written by one of the 20th century’s most popular authors during WWII, Montaigne is a passionate and readable biography of the great Renaissance humanist. Stefan Zweig draws strong parallels between Montaigne’s age—when Europe was torn in two by conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism—and his own, in which Fascism and Communism were on the verge of destroying the pan-continental liberal culture he was born into and loved dearly. Just as Montaigne sought to remain aloof from the factionalism of his day, so Zweig tried to the last to defend his freedom of thought and argue for peace and compromise. One of the final works Zweig wrote before his suicide, this is both a brilliantly impassioned portrait of a great mind and a moving plea for tolerance in a world ruled by cruelty.