François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) was born in Saint-Malo, on the northern coast of Brittany, the youngest son of an aristocratic family. Long recognized as one of the first French Romantics, Chateaubriand was also a historian, diplomat, and staunch defender of the freedom of the press. He is best remembered for his posthumously published Memoirs from Beyond the Grave.

Alex Andriesse is an editor at New York Review Books. He has translated, in addition to three volumes of Memoirs from Beyond the Grave (a final volume is forthcoming from NYRB Classics), Cristina Campo's The Unforgivable and Other Writings, Jacques Dupin's Notched, and Jean-Pierre Martinet's With Their Hearts in Their Boots.