Political parties are a marvellous mechanism . . . If one were to entrust the organisation of public life to the devil, he could not invent a more clever device.' Here Simon Leys translates for the first time into English an essay by the remarkable Simone Weil - philosopher, activist, mystic - which makes a case for the corrupting effect of political parties on political life. This is a dazzling account of the perils of political conformity, written with brilliant clarity and wit. It is combined with an essay by Nobel Prize - winner Czeslaw Milosz 'on the importance of Simone Weil' and an essay by Simon Leys on the influence of Weil, especially on Albert Camus and Milosz. This is a beautiful package of writing by some of the finest minds of the last century.