Paris is firing all its ammunition into the August night. Against a
vast backdrop of water and stone, on both sides of a river awash with
history, freedom's barricades are once again being erected. Once again
justice must be redeemed with men's blood.
?
Albert Camus (1913-1960) wrote these words in August 1944, as Paris was
being liberated from German occupation. Although best known for his
novels including The Stranger and The Plague, it was his vivid
descriptions of the horrors of the occupation and his passionate defense
of freedom that in fact launched his public fame.
Now, for the first time in English, Camus at 'Combat' presents all of
Camus' World War II resistance and early postwar writings published in
Combat, the resistance newspaper where he served as editor-in-chief
and editorial writer between 1944 and 1947. These 165 articles and
editorials show how Camus' thinking evolved from support of a
revolutionary transformation of postwar society to a wariness of the
radical left alongside his longstanding strident opposition to the
reactionary right. These are poignant depictions of issues ranging from
the liberation, deportation, justice for collaborators, the return of
POWs, and food and housing shortages, to the postwar role of
international institutions, colonial injustices, and the situation of a
free press in democracies. The ideas that shaped the vision of this
Nobel-prize winning novelist and essayist are on abundant display.
More than fifty years after the publication of these writings, they have
lost none of their force. They still speak to us about freedom, justice,
truth, and democracy.
