In the book, Aron chastised French intellectuals for what he described as their harsh criticism of capitalism and democracy and their simultaneous defense of the actions of the communist governments of the East.

"[11] Born in Paris, the son of a secular Jewish lawyer, Aron studied at the École Normale Supérieure, where he met Jean-Paul Sartre, who became his friend and later his lifelong intellectual opponent.

He had been teaching social philosophy at the University of Toulouse for only a few weeks when World War II began; he joined the Armée de l'Air.

A lifelong journalist, Aron in 1947 became an influential columnist for Le Figaro,[15] a position he held for thirty years until he joined L'Express, where he wrote a political column up to his death.

[19] Aron always promoted an "immoderately moderate" form of liberalism which accepted a mixed economy as the normal economic model of the age.

"[22] A prolific author, he "wrote several thousand editorials and several hundred academic articles, essays, and comments, as well as about forty books",[23] which include: