Alexis Leger - later known as the poet Saint-John Perse - and Dag Hammarskjold were important figures in diplomatic and literary spheres, and their lives shared a number of uncanny parallels
that eventually brought them into contact with one another. Alexis Leger, French secretary-general of foreign affairs, perhaps saw in Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold the continuation of his
diplomatic career, while Hammarskjold, in the midst of difficult international crises, found inspiration and strength in reading and translating Perse’s poem Chronique.
Marie-Noelle Little’s expansive prologue to this book sets the stage for situating the two world-renowned personalities in their exchange of letters during the six years before Hammarskjold’s
death. The letters themselves are characterized by world vision, a noble tone, and delicate sentiments, and afford English-speaking audiences rare access to the revealing correspondence between
two Nobel Prize winners.
