Robert Antelme was 26 years old when, in 1943, he joined a French Resistance unit in Paris headed by Francois Mitterand. The Human Race was his sole publication. He died in 1990.

[Antelme's] grave and moving plea, not for retribution but for understanding, is reinforced by his endurance . . . human dignity in a nutshell."—New York Times Book Review"The Human Race is an astonishing book, a unique book. It is a masterpiece of literature without anything literary, it is a document in which the words render the whole richness of a lived experience. It is a work whose pure simplicity roceeds froma profound sense of human complexity, for Antelme never ceased to be aware that the tormentor who seeks to deprive his victim of his human quality is himself a human being. It is a work written without hatred, a work of boundless compassion such as that found only in the great Russians."—Edgar Morin

Robert Antelme was 26 years old when, in 1943, he joined a French Resistance unit in Paris headed by Francois Mitterand. The Human Race was his sole publication. He died in 1990.

[Antelme's] grave and moving plea, not for retribution but for understanding, is reinforced by his endurance . . . human dignity in a nutshell."—New York Times Book Review"The Human Race is an astonishing book, a unique book. It is a masterpiece of literature without anything literary, it is a document in which the words render the whole richness of a lived experience. It is a work whose pure simplicity roceeds froma profound sense of human complexity, for Antelme never ceased to be aware that the tormentor who seeks to deprive his victim of his human quality is himself a human being. It is a work written without hatred, a work of boundless compassion such as that found only in the great Russians."—Edgar Morin