Bent Boel
“The French Debate on Totalitarianism: Controversies over The Black Book of Communism”

This article analyzes the controversies sparked by the publication of Le
Livre noir du communisme in France in 1997. The discussion - largely
focussed on Stéphane Courtois' introductory chapter - concerned a number of
issues raised in earlier French debates on totalitarianism: the question of
the nature of communism, the comparability of communism and nazism, the
relationship between the doctrine and praxis of communism and the uniqueness
of the Holocaust. Finally, the article attempts to place the debate within
the broader context of French party politics as well as the politics of
historical memory.