As fragmentary or hastily written as they may be, the texts included in this volume summarize Baudelaire's worldview and political beliefs, as well as his views on art and its role.

Although at first glance they may seem paradoxical and "reactionary" to many today, they take on other dimensions if we view them as an expression of Baudelaire's existential opposition to the bourgeois mythology of progress, science, enlightenment, and equality.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]