From September 1973 to late 1974, the author-the youngest member of Salvador Allende's cabinet-was confined to a concentration camp on remote Dawson's Island, together with the rest of the cabinet. Exiled in 1974, he began in 1975 to dictate his memoirs. Permitted to return to Chile in 1984, he revised and edited the text to purge it of an emotional tone and simply let the facts speak for themselves. The result is a compelling account, a best-seller in Chile today, and an important contribution to the country's understanding of itself. Mr. Bitar is now a prominent leader of the democratic opposition.
