Following the conclusion of World War II, Cioran disowned The Transfiguration of Romania and began to publish works in French, the language in which he wrote for the remainder of his life.

History and Utopia is a collection of essays, one of which ("Letter to a Faraway Friend") was addressed to the philosopher Constantin Noica.

The first, "Letter to a Faraway Friend", was written in the context of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and addressed to the philosopher Constantin Noica,[2] a contemporary of Cioran's.

In their youth, both Cioran and Noica had been sympathetic to the Iron Guard, a fascist movement which briefly seized control of Romania during World War II.

[2][a] In the letter, Cioran expressed ambivalence about the relative freedom that he enjoyed in Paris while Noica was a political prisoner in Romania: From that country which was ours and now is no one's, you urge me, after so many years of silence, to send you details about my occupations, and about this "wonderful" world in which, you say, I am lucky enough to live and move and have my being...

[4]Cioran also recalled his childhood fear of the Hungarian police, and commented on the national character of the Russian people, which he likened to a force of nature, as opposed to a collective human will.

[5][6]The feelings the West inspires in me are no less mixed than those I entertain toward my country, toward Hungary, or toward our big neighbor, whose indiscreet proximity you are in a better position to appreciate than I...

[7]The second essay, "Russia and the Virus of Liberty", is a continuation on the theme of Russian history, from its tsarist past through its then-communist present.

Hitler, quite competent in this instance, displayed great wisdom by getting rid of Roehm, the only man he addressed in the second person singular, and of a good number of his early companions.

[12]The fourth essay, "Odyssey of Rancor", asserts the central importance of negative emotions in motivating human behavior (e.g. to triumph over an adversary, to take revenge, or to produce a superior work of art): Action's sovereignty comes, let us admit it straight off, from our vices, which master a greater contingent of existence than our virtues possess... We invariably produce and perform better out of jealousy and greed than out of nobility and disinterestedness... Every conviction consists chiefly of hate, and only secondly of love.

In the flow of Cioran's impassioned writing, it is too easy to overlook his flawed conclusions and the near-mockery he makes of historical analysis.

"[17] Throughout his career, Cioran usually expressed himself in essays, aphorisms, and other fragmentary writings, intentionally avoiding the development of a philosophical system.