The works of French philosopher Alain Badiou range from novels, poems, \'romanoperas\' and popular political treatises to elaborate philosophical arguments engaging with mathematical theory.Badiou suggests that \'philosophy is always a biography of the philosopher\', and throughout all of his writing there is a staunch commitment to emancipatory politics and a radical yet faithful subjectivity. His famous, or infamous, philosophy of emancipation is firmly grounded in his fidelity to the universal idea of a collective life.Introducing Alain Badiou is an elegantly written and crisply illustrated guide to an essential contemporary thinker.