The book was written in the early months of 1943.
Its initial form was a report which Weil had been asked to write for the Free French Resistance movement  concerning the possibilities for effecting a regeneration in France once the Germans had been driven back.
The work was originally submitted along with a shorter companion essay called Draft for a statement of human obligations.

"Spirituality of work", a leading theme in the book, was a concept that had occupied Weil throughout her career.
According to biographer Richard Rees, her whole life's work can be viewed as an attempt to elucidate the concept, which she saw as the one great original idea of the West.

  Weil presented physical labour as the type of work most suited to develop a direct connection with God.
Her analysis was informed by a year-long stretch as a factory hand and by several periods working as an agricultural labourer.
The book was written in the early months of 1943. Its initial form was a report which Weil had been asked to write for the Free French Resistance movement  concerning the possibilities for effecting a regeneration in France once the Germans had been driven back. The work was originally submitted along with a shorter companion essay called Draft for a statement of human obligations. 
"Spirituality of work", a leading theme in the book, was a concept that had occupied Weil throughout her career. According to biographer Richard Rees, her whole life's work can be viewed as an attempt to elucidate the concept, which she saw as the one great original idea of the West. 
  Weil presented physical labour as the type of work most suited to develop a direct connection with God. Her analysis was informed by a year-long stretch as a factory hand and by several periods working as an agricultural labourer.
The Need for Roots