This French biannual multidisciplinary journal brought together specialists of different generations and targeted young people.

The editorial board included: Nicolas Werth, Marc Lazar, Philippe Buton, Michel Hastings, Karel Bartosek and Denis Peschanski.

Access to archives of the Comintern, following the collapse of the communist regimes of Eastern Europe, was interpreted by Stéphane Courtois as providing an opportunity to create a true history of communism.

The historian Denis Peschanski, who was among the first contributors to the journal "motivated by a desire to make communism a scientific subject" left because he did not feel in tune with the editorial line.

He explained that "the collapse of the team began when a renewed police-related history appeared of the PCF which was a "scoop".