This book contains two essays about the death penalty, written more than half a century, but in full force. When published in 1957, still worked the guillotine in France for crimes of common law and, more often still, to those related to the war in Algeria. Decades after the abolition has prevailed in Europe and has been gaining ground worldwide, however the debate has not been interrupted: has moved and expanded internationally, because the death penalty is still applied in many countries, sometimes on a large scale .

In his essay Reflections on the gallows (1955), Arthur KoestIer, who was about to be executed in the prisons of Franco, discusses the history and evolution of this brutal punishment in England. The work of Camus, Reflections on the guillotine, is a true classic in the field. With a brilliant argument puts the respect for human life above the law, and equates summary executions in France which took place during the Nazi occupation.