He was a confidant of Charles de Gaulle and had a long career in public service, serving as a diplomat in Germany and Poland.

Peyrefitte is remembered for his support for partitioning Algeria amid the Algerian War.

On 15 December 1986, he survived an assassination attempt by members of Action Directe (AD) in front of his house.

[2] Upon his death in 1999 he was honored by burial in Les Invalides which also houses the tomb of Napoleon and other revered national leaders.

The book places his own observations and experiences as a journalist and government minister inside a panoramic view of French and European history from the medieval to the modern era.