These documents of the dialogue between philosophers Alexandre Kojève and Gaston Fessard get to the heart of questions concerning how we make sense of our lives in relation to the meaning of history. They are a welcome addition to the intellectual history of 20th century France.

Michael S. Roth, President, Wesleyan University, US

It is hard to imagine a more timely gathering of voices, speaking across profound intellectual, ideological, and temperamental divides, while also summoning some sort of a common cause, than this exchange between Alexandre Kojève and Gaston Fessard. Meticulously introduced and annotated, the editors and translators present us with a priceless dialogue between thinkers whose theoretical and practical aim was to address nothing short of a spiritual communism or communion salvaging a shared European future. At a time during which the postwar Western consensus, premised on principles of political liberalism and secularism, presumably sustaining a rights-based international order, has revealed its blatant weaknesses in upholding its promises, caving to challenges left and right, Kojève and Fessard are offering us at once sobering alternatives and uncharted avenues for philosophical, theological, and political thought.

Hent de Vries, Professor of Religious Studies, New York University, USA

This book offers a fascinating, previously unexplored insight into the relationship between Alexandre Kojève and Gaston Fessard through texts and documents spanning from the early 1930s to 1968. An unexpected dialectical bond is revealed, showing that the tension between atheism and Christian theology is essential to exploring Hegelian absolute knowledge.

Elettra Stimilli, Professor of Theoretical Philosophy, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy