Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance, singlehandedly responsible for popularising the essay as a literary form.
Grayling, Financial Times \'A superb edition\' Nicholas Wollaston, Observer. must surely serve as the definitive English Montaigne\' A.
C. \'Screech\'s fine version ...
If you enjoyed The Complete Essays, you might like Francois Rabelais\'s Gargantua and Pantagruel, also available in Penguin Classics.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1586) studied law and spent a number of years working as a counsellor before devoting his life to reading, writing and reflection.
Screech\'s edition of Montaigne is widely regarded as the most distinguished of recent times.
With its extensive introduction and notes, M.
A.
The Essays are among the most idiosyncratic and personal works in all literature and provide an engaging insight into a wise Renaissance mind, continuing to give pleasure and enlightenment to modern readers.
But, above all, Montaigne studied himself as a way of drawing out his own inner nature and that of men and women in general.
He discusses subjects as diverse as war-horses and cannibals, poetry and politics, sex and religion, love and friendship, ecstasy and experience.
There he wrote his constantly expanding \'assays\', inspired by the ideas he found in books contained in his library and from his own experience.
In 1572 Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection.
Screech.
This Penguin Classics edition of The Complete Essays is translated from the French and edited with an introduction and notes by M.
A.
Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance, singlehandedly responsible for popularising the essay as a literary form
