Between the human and the divine : the political thought of Simone Weil

_Between the Human and the Divine will introduce American readers to one of the most complex, troubled and troubling, luminous, path-breaking and neglected minds of our time. Dietz has taken an important step towards getting the measure of a thinker who measures our civilization._-THE REVIEW OF POLITICS Library Journal Dietz gives a lucid account of the development of Simone Weil's often ignored political theorizing. Approaching her subject with psychological insight, Dietz introduces and critically discusses elements in Weil's personal life, from childhood through her suicide during World War II, which would seem to contribute to the thinker's concepts of identity, community, and nationality. Weil's personal experiences found theoretical formality in her works, and Dietz gives particular attention to ``The Love of God and Affliction,'' The Need for Roots, and The Iliad or the Poem of Force . An excellent introduction to Weil. Francisca Goldsmith, Golden Gate Univ. Lib., San Francisco