This text traces the development of Albert Camus, from his impoverished background in Algeria, through his participation in the French Resistance movement during World War II, to his tragic death in a car crash in 1960. It explores the central theme of his work - the absurdity of existence in a universe without God or any ostensible purpose, and looks at his gradual estrangement from the Left-Bank intellectual milieu, thanks to his human "un-radical" views during the Algerian war for independence.