From 1993 to 1995, François Mitterrand, President of the Republic, and Édouard Balladur, Prime Minister, had many conversations together. These conversations, reported here for the first time, help us to understand how, in an exceptional and awkward power-sharing situation, the State was run, what drove the government's action and how the various players behaved. Aware of their differences, the two interlocutors sometimes took it easy, sometimes opposed each other. They work together when the interests of the country require it, without ever forgetting who they are or what they want.
These conversations reveal the personal relationships between two men who, when placed at the head of the country, were of opposing convictions and interests. The complexity of these relationships, where mistrust alternated with trust, where ulterior motives surfaced beneath the surface of words, sheds light on a part of our recent history. Source: Fayard.