Brilliant, original, funny and moving — a vivid portrait of Montaigne, showing how his ideas gave birth to our modern sense of our inner selves, from Shakespeare's plays to the dilemmas we face today. How to get on well with people, how to deal with violence, how to adjust to losing someone you love— such questions arise in most people's lives. They are all versions of a bigger question: how do you live? How do you do the good or honourable thing, while flourishing and feeling happy? This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-92), perhaps the first truly modern individual. A nobleman, public official and wine-grower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them 'essays', meaning 'attempts' or 'tries'. Into them he put whatever was in his head: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dog's ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the appalling events of the religious civil wars raging around him. The Essays was an instant bestseller, and over four hundred years later, Montaigne's honesty and charm still draw people to him. Readers come to him in search of companionship, wisdom and entertainment— and in search of themselves. This book, a spirited and singular biography (and the first full life of Montaigne in English for nearly fifty years), relates the story of his life by way of the questions he posed and the answers he explored. It traces his bizarre upbringing (made to speak only Latin), youthful career and sexual adventures, his travels, and his friendships with the scholar and poet Etienne de La Boétie and with his adopted 'daughter', Marie de Gournay. And as we read, we also meet his readers— who for centuries have found in Montaigne an inexhaustible source of answers to the haunting question, 'how to live?'

蒙田是世界闻名的文学家，散文家，其《随笔集》最为著名，但在这本随笔集里，却很少有人关注其政治思想、法律思想，作者从这一独特的角度出发，为人们揭示了《随笔集》中隐藏的蒙田重要的政治思想，尤其是蒙田当时对法国的政治的关注和评论。此书独特的视角和观点对于蒙田的研究者而言是相当可贵的，对于喜欢蒙田的读者而言，也是一个新的尝试和发现。

《蒙田论生活(英中文双语读本)》的主要内容是：蒙田以“杰出”论中国：“在中国，在这个很少与我们交往，对我们并不了解的王国里，它的政府体制和艺术在一些杰出的领域内超越了我们，它的历史告诉我，实际之大、之丰富是我们的祖先和我们自己所无法深刻了解的。”蒙田又以“伟大”论中国：“有关我们生活在其中的这个世界的面貌，我们一包括求知欲最旺的人——的认识又是多么贫乏和简单!且不说那些经造化之手变成千古传诵或警戒的个人事件，就连那些伟大文明和伟大民族的情况，我们未能知道的也比我们知道的多百倍!我们对自己发明的大炮和印刷叹为奇迹，殊不知，其他民族，远在世界另一边的中国，一千年前便已使用。”超越人性的“卑鄙下流”，是蒙田一生劳作的主题：“人若不超越人性，是多么卑鄙下流的东西!”人既是“神”，又是“兽”，既有高贵、超升、至爱的一面，又有卑劣、沉沦、残忍的一面，时而温和、宽容、恻隐通达，时而暴躁、苛刻、怒火中烧……所谓“超越人性”，就是尽可能压抑“兽”性，张扬“神”性，尽可能减少“兽”性，增加“神”性，尽可能将“兽”性置于“神”性的统制之下。敢于承认人性的“卑鄙下流”，是“自知”；敢于超越人性的“卑鄙下流”，是懂得“如何生活”。“自知”和“如何生活”在先哲苏格拉底那里是最高智慧，在蒙田眼中也是世间最难把捉的学问……他说：“我的头脑最主要、最辛勤的工作，便是研究自己。”又说：“我眼看生命的时光无多，我就愈想增加生命的分量。”

《热爱生命:蒙田试笔》主要内容有：论不同的方法可以收同样的效果、论悲哀、论灵魂缺乏真正对象时把情感寄托在假定对象上、论闲逸钌、论说诳、论辩才的急慢私、论预兆、论善恶之辨大抵系于我们的意识、论恐怖甜、论死后才能断定我们的幸福、论哲学即是学、论想象的力量、我们的感情延续到死后、论凭动机裁判我们的行为、几位钦差大臣的特性、论隐逸、论教育、论凭人们的见识来评定真假之狂妄、我们怎样为同一事物哭笑、论友谊等。

《触摸生活: 蒙田写作随笔的日子》记载了蒙田写作《随笔集》的经过。1570年，37岁的蒙田弃官，回到他位于法国西南部多尔多涅以北几英里的城堡。挚友、父亲和第一个孩子的去世使他“活着已经失去了新的乐趣”。不过消极的悲观情绪激励他开始写作。他创作关于各种主题的小品散文，树立了全新的生活理念：生活应当拥抱生活的所有感官和旺盛的生命力。直到逝世，他写了二十三年，留给我们一本《随笔集》。蒙田的随笔是最早对西方文学中的人的意识做持续描写的文章，曾对莎士比亚等作家产生了很大的影响，即使在今天，也仍在指引着人们去理解为什么蒙田会是文学家、哲学家、社会观察家和思想家。