This in-depth biography of Italian intellectual Antonio Gramsci casts new light on his life and writing, emphasizing his unflagging spirit, even in the many years he spent in prison.

"The Italian intellectual Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) is one of the most influential political thinkers of the twentieth century, one whose ideas left an indelible mark on philosophy and critical theory around the world. His original, innovative work on history, society, power, and the state has influenced several generations of readers and political movements, and it has shaped important developments in postcolonial thought through concepts such as subalternity and hegemony. Gramsci's thinking is scattered across the thousands of notebook pages he wrote while he was in prison, from 1926 until shortly before his death, and it ranges widely across intellectual history, European social and economic history, education theory, and even linguistics. To guide the reader through Gramsci's life and thought, historian Jean-Yves Frâetignâe offers in To Live Is to Resist an accessible, compelling portrait of this extraordinary figure. Throughout the book, Frâetignâe emphasizes Gramsci's quiet heroism and his unwavering commitment to political practice and resistance . Most powerfully, he shows how Gramsci never surrendered, even in conditions that stripped him of all power, except, of course, the power to think"--