"Written by one of the world's preeminent authorities on Kierkegaard, this biography in the first to reveal the delicate imbrication of Kierkegaard's life and thought. To grasp the importance and influence of Kierkegaard's thought far beyond his native Denmark, it is necessary to trace the many factors that led this gifted but (according to his headmaster) "exceedingly childish youth" to grapple with traditional philosophical problems and religious themes in a way that later generations would recognize as amounting to a philosophical revolution." "This book offers a narrative account that will be of particular interest to philosophers, literary theorists, intellectual historians, and scholars of religious studies as well as to any nonspecialist looking for an authoritative guide to the life and work of one of the most original and fascinating figures in Western philosophy."--BOOK JACKET.