No French army officer had ever spoken up in such detail on the subject of torture during the bloody 8-year conflict that led to Algeria's independence until this book was first published. General Paul Aussaresses decided to break the silence and reveal the bitter truth of the war on terrorism as the French army fought it in the late 1950s. While many, including Francois Mitterrand, who was the Interior, and later, Justice Minister [and future President of France], knew and approved of torture and summary executions in Algeria between 1954 and 1962, the extent of the French government's involvement and that of its official representatives on the spot in Algiers had never been revealed until now.