Originally published in 1958, The Question is the book that
opened the torture debate in France during Algeria's war of
independence and was the first book since the eighteenth century to
be banned by the French government for political reasons.
At
the time of his arrest by French paratroopers during the Battle of
Algiers in June of 1957, Henri Alleg was a French journalist who
supported Algerian independence. He was interrogated for one month.
During this imprisonment, Alleg was questioned under torture, with
unbelievable brutality and sadism. The Question is Alleg's
profoundly moving account of that month and of his triumph over his
torturers. Jean-Paul Sartre's preface remains a relevant commentary
on the moral and political effects of torture on both the victim and
perpetrator.
This
Bison Books edition marks the first time since 1958 that The
Question has been published in the United States. For this
edition Ellen Ray provides a foreword. James D. Le Sueur offers an
introduction.