This fictional account of the Dreyfus Affair was lent to me by a friend who, knowing my work on arbitrary detention within the context of the War on Terror, could not recommend it highly enough - to the extent that he posted his copy for me to read.

I was not familiar with the incident, but the feeling, the texture, the detail were all familiar to an extent that I had not been prepared for.

The book opens with discussions around a national security case that is in part heard in secret so as to exclude the accused from knowing the evidence against him. What follows is a web of lies and cover-ups that exist solely to protect institutions from public disgrace, rather than any commitment to the truth. It is a story about what happens when we allow those who are fearful of others, permit their bigotry to define their actions.

This is not a book set in our time, but in so many ways it is about our time.