Emmanuel Terray, graduate of the École normale supérieure, has a degree in philosophy and has worked with Louis Althusser. He has taught ethnology at the École des hautes études en science sociales.
In an unprecedented way, this book brings to trial the Revolution with a capital R, and its twin brother, Communism. They haunted the last two centuries of the preceding millennium, and took shape in episodes that have lastingly altered the course of history.

What can we learn from those episodes? Is it conceivable that they will occur again? The response to these questions can only be collective, but each person can contribute, from his or her place, and with his or her own resources.