Shortlisted for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize Paris, near the turn of 1932-3. Three young friends meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and their friend Raymond Aron, who opens their eyes to a radical new way of thinking. `It's not often that you miss your bus stop because you're so engrossed in reading a book about existentialism, but I did exactly that. The story of Sartre, Beauvoir, Camus, Heidegger et al is strange, fun and compelling reading. If it doesn't win awards, I will eat my copy' Independent on Sunday `Bakewell shows how fascinating were some of the existentialists' ideas and how fascinating, often frightful, were their lives. Vivid, humorous anecdotes are interwoven with a lucid and unpatronising exposition of their complex philosophy. Tender, incisive and fair' Daily Telegraph `Quirky, funny, clear and passionate. Few writers are as good as Bakewell at explaining complicated ideas in a way that makes them easy to understand' Mail on Sunday.