A decade before The Day of the Jackal appeared, Ben Abro's Assassination! July 14 became an international sensation, thanks to its sizzling plot, an ingenious,intellectual hero, and a realistic depiction of France's volatile political scene in the 1960s. In fact, the novel proved too real, provoking outrage and a lawsuit thatshut down its publication.

For the first time in decades, this gripping, underground thriller is again widely available. The equally riveting story behind the novel andthe controversy it spawned are carefully explained in an informative essay by James D. Le Sueur. Drawing upon interviews with the authors, court transcripts,and recent evidence and scholarship, Le Sueur examines how an item of popular culture could have had such national and international repercussions.