A renowned scholar investigates the "human crisis” that Albert Camus confronted in his world and in ours, producing a brilliant study of Camus’s life and influence for those readers who, in Camus's words, “cannot live without dialogue and friendship.”

As France—and all of the world—was emerging from the depths of World War II, Camus summed up what he saw as "the human crisis”:

We gasp for air among people who believe they are absolutely right, whether it be in their machines or their ideas. And for all who cannot live without dialogue and the friendship of other human beings, this silence is the end of the world.

In the years after he wrote these words, until his death fourteen years later, Camus labored to address this crisis, arguing for dialogue, understanding, clarity, and truth. When he sailed to New York, in March 1946—for his first and only visit to the United States—he found an ebullient nation celebrating victory. Camus warned against the common postwar complacency that took false comfort in the fact that Hitler was dead and the Third Reich had fallen. Yes, the serpentine beast was dead, but “we know perfectly well,” he argued, “that the venom is not gone, that each of us carries it in our own hearts.” All around him in the postwar world, Camus saw disheartening evidence of a global community revealing a heightened indifference to a number of societal ills. It is the same indifference to human suffering that we see all around, and within ourselves, today.

Camus’s voice speaks like few others to the heart of an affliction that infects our country and our world, a world divided against itself. His generation called him “the conscience of Europe.” That same voice speaks to us and our world today with a moral integrity and eloquence so sorely lacking in the public arena.

Few authors, sixty years after their deaths, have more avid readers, across more continents, than Albert Camus. Camus has never been a trend, a fad, or just a good read. He was always and still is a companion, a guide, a challenge, and a light in darkened times. This keenly insightful story of an intellectual is an ideal volume for those readers who are first discovering Camus, as well as a penetrating exploration of the author for all those who imagine they have already plumbed Camus’ depths—a supremely timely book on an author whose time has come once again.

"“Meagher shows how considering the importance of our stories and the “language of common humanity”, which characterizes Camus’ life and work, is the response to the human crisis. The book focuses on Camus’ core ideas and takes us through all his work, offering insightful and moving readings of their meaning… [A] lovingly written and deeply moral book.”" - The Times Higher Education

"In Albert Camus and the Human Crisis, Meagher presents a powerful reading of the oeuvre of a thinker who still has much to tell us. Meagher’s deep understanding of Camus, developed over fifty years of teaching, enables him to discuss Camus’ work in prose that is lively and clear and, at the same time, full of nuance. Reading Meagher is like talking over coffee with your favorite professor. Berets and clove cigarettes optional."   - Chicago Review of Books

"This fascinating, multifaceted study of the weird and enduring social relevance of Camus is only a kind of biography on one of its many levels, but even so, it sheds more light on the inner man than many full-dress life studies have been." - Best Biographies of 2021

"Robert Meagher sheds light on Albert Camus’s 'enduring contribution to today’s challenges' in this brilliant study. Meagher argues strongly against the notion that Camus was an existentialist and an atheist, and makes a convincing case that a modern world in peril ought turn to 'the moral clarity and prophetic wisdom' of Camus. Fans of the philosopher and those new to his work will find this full of insight." - Publishers Weekly

"A particularly illuminating critical study." - Recommended Books of 2021