This is an exelent book for those who wants information about the ideological, political and armed strategy of a movement that had its roots in the events of May '68, completely in line with the French (leftist) political violence since the 1789 revolution. It shows how the organisation mixed maoism with anarchism (not a good combination), which, in 1982, led to the split into two factions: Action Directe nationale (ADn), and Action Directe internationale (ADi). It also shows AD's relations with other militant leftist groups operating in France, such as GARI (Groups d'action révolutionnaires internationalistes) and NAPAP (Noyaux armés pour l'autonomie populaire) and shows ADi's cooperation and relations with its European counterparts; the Italian Brigate Rosse (BR), the Belgian Cellules Combattantes Communistes (CCC) and, not the least, the Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF). As Dartnell's discussion shows, AD was a rational organisation which laid in line with the french political tradition. AD believed that the small groups of young people that first appeared in Europe in the late '70s, calling themselves autonomists, would be the "new revolutionary class" - they only needed a goal to hold on to. Readers should be aware of that this book is written in a pure academic way. It seems that Dartnell has tried very hard to be neutral in his writing - which, you have to say, have succeeded. In some parts, however, it seems like the "discussion", as Dartnell calls it, becomes more of a "discussion about a discussion", specially in the beginning of the chapters. And the chapter outlining the history of Action Directe could have been a bit longer... Altogether, its a good book and I give it four stars - partly because there are no other book in English about Action Directe (and my french, it should be said, could be a bit better).
