Who was Jean Amery? Victim or survivor? Agnostic or Jew? Austrian or exile? Philosopher or journalist? Jean Amery is not easy to classify but what this biography (the first in any language) demonstrates is that he is more -- far more -- than some enigmatic cult figure: he is one of the most influential of Holocaust survivors and one of the most provocative writers and thinkers of the 20th century.

Jean Amery -- born Hans Maier -- is perhaps best known for At the Mind's Limits. Heidelberger-Leonard illuminates the turbulent life of this complex figure, from his origins in...