On December 22, 1897, a French military court declared Captain Alfred Dreyfus guilty of selling military secrets to Germany. As punishment for treason, he was stripped of rank and sentenced to life imprisonment in the dread penal colony of Devil's Island. The Dreyfus Case seemed ended. But in reality it had only just begun. For in the decade to follow, the question of Alfred Dreyfus' guilt was to divide the entire French nation into two bitterly opposing camps, and to take its place as one of history's most noble crusades for justice.

The truth was that Dreyfus had been falsely accused. Though a dedicated officer, he had been a victim of prejudice against his Jewish background, and made a scapegoat for the discovery of a leak in military security. When the decision of those who convicted him was questioned, they had only to invoke the sacred honor of the Army and the patriotism of all good citizens. And for a time their victory seemed complete.

Yet the case refused to die. An officer named Picquart had doubts that would not let him rest. A fiery politician named George Clemenceau became disquieted. Such eminent figures as Anatole France and Jean Jaures joined the ranks of the Dreyfus supporters. And finally, amid a rising wave of violent public debate and disorder, the great novelist, Emile Zola, published his ringing denunciation, "I Accuse!" in which he declared in a voice none could ignore, that a vast injustice had been committed.

The story of the eventual vindication of Dreyfus and of those who risked all to aid him is that of a struggle against overwhelming odds. Capturing the vast drama of l'affaire Dreyfus, and the many vivid characters who played their parts for good or ill in it, this book serves both as an inspiration and a warning for the present. For as it declares in closing: "It is only necessary that good men stand mute for evil to triumph . . . "

From the dust jacket