He was France's best-known philosopher & chief arbiter of intellectual fashions; she was the most influential forerunner of today's feminist movement. Using newly available documentary evidence from diaries & letters, the authors shed astonishing new light on who the dominant partner was in this relationship. The book provides decisive insights into the lives, literature, & ideas of these major figures on the modern cultural scene & raises profound questions about the psychological needs, sexual politics, & bad faith that led Beauvoir & Sartre to give misleading accounts of the inner workings of their relationship.