Are we ever really prepared to face death, especially if we do not have faith in God, through whose bounty death can be viewed not as an end but a beginning? In these pages, one man, nearing the end of his turbulent life, addresses simply and eloquently this and many other poignant and pertinent problems relative to morality--and immortality.

The man "dying without God" of the title is Francois Mitterand, who for fourteen years was president of France, a complex and controversial figure who was not only a major political leader but a respected writer and thinker. What the public didn't know was that during both his seven-year terms as president he was battling prostate cancer. Only near the end of his second term did he publicly acknowledge his illness. Thus for well over a decade he was a man for whom death had been a constant companion, and many of his policies and opinions were doubtless made and expressed in the full knowledge of his own life's brevity.

Long before he became president, Mitterrand had befriended an aspiring journalist named Franz-Olivier Giesbert, who became like a son to him. Over the years, however, as both their fortunes rose, Mitterrand and Giesbert drew apart and their political positions began to differ radically. Nevertheless, their deep-rooted friendship finally prevailed: during the last year of his presidency, knowing death was fast approaching, Mitterrand turned to Giesbert, now editorial director of one of Europe's leading daily newspapers, Le Figaro,to share his final words and thoughts. Together they discussed matters both political and personal; assessed with often startling candor a number of contemporary personages, from Ronald Reagan to Helmut Kohl, ruminated about figures of the past, searching for the definition of greatness; and, most importantly, talked about the deeper meaning of life . . . and death.

Born Catholic in a conservative provincial family, Mitterrand as an adult found his inquisitive and incisive mind unable to maintain his earlier faith, and he became a confirmed agnostic. As such, his opinions and comments take on a special meaning for those millions of people who, as the twentieth century draws to a close, also feel they can no longer fall back on the church or religion to answer their questions about mortality.