The definitive biography of the greatest photographer of modern times - a vital addition to the library of everyone with an interest in photography.

Henri Cartier-Bresson was the eye of the 20th century. His lens chronicled the decisive moments of his time – from Chinese communist victories to the Spanish Civil War and the Liberation of Paris. A co-founder of Magnum Photos, Cartier-Bresson produced unparalleled portraits of his contemporaries, capturing the spirit of Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre and William Faulkner.

Cartier-Bresson took Pierre Assouline into his confidence over a number of years, detailing his youthful devotion to surrealism, lifelong passion for drawing, and experiences of war and prison camps. This sensitive biography emerges from a meeting of two minds, revealed with the same truth as one of Cartier Bresson’s photographs.

'There is no better book to help readers to understand his motivation and fascination for documenting the world, individuals and historic individuals on film' - The Times
'Cartier-Bresson’s life sweeps by with a vitality that wouldn’t be out of place in one of his photographs' - Royal Photographic Society Journal

Pierre Assouline has published several biographies of cultural figures, among them books on Georges Simenon and Hergé.