[1] It received the Prix Goncourt, with five votes to three against Carole Martinez's Du domaine des Murmures [fr].

L'Art français de la guerre was the third novel written by Alexis Jenni, a high-school biology teacher, although the first published.

"[1] The novel was partly inspired by the debate on French national identity,[4] announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government.

[5] Jenni wanted readers to think about the issue of national identity, a social debate occurring in France at the time the book was written, without having to take an opinion or side.

[5] Goncourt judge Tahar Ben Jelloun said of the novel "It’s important to exorcise the unpleasant parts of history through literature, and not through political discourse, which doesn’t help at all.