Barbarie, fed by ignorance, continues to threaten the progress of our societies. The reading of this book will continue to surprise the reader for the lucidity and combativeness of an author whose freedom of thought and intellectual and moral demand today constitute an aldabonazo for our consciences yesterday.
Brilliant conversationalist, in addition to scholar, George Steiner (in dialectical opposition with his interlocutor, Antoine Spire) opens to a living, passionate story, which takes us to the limit of the paradox and provocation. From aspects of his own biography to the most thorny issues addressed in the work of this giant of European culture, his thoughts touch music, philosophy, poetry and literature, the place that corresponds to a cultured spirit faced with barbarism .

We recover the barbarism of ignorance with a new translation, a final section not collected in the previous Castilian edition and an epilogue in which Antoine Spire recalls a meeting not entirely easy with the philosopher.