Paperback. In a dust jacket. Cream cover with black title.

We provide an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available. 

•   Note: This book carries a £5.00 discount to those that subscribe to the F.B.A. mailing list

Please view our photographs and read the rubric on the rear cover. The English translation of the title Les Décombres is “The Ruins” (or “The Debris”). 

The 1976 Pauvert Edition

• The Real Date Range: The subtitle on this copy, which reads “1938–1910,” is almost certainly a slight misprint or misreading of 1938–1940. This date range marks the specific historical window the book chronicles—leading up to the fall of France.
• Editorial Cuts: The 1976 version published by Jean-Jacques Pauvert was released under the broader title Mémoires d’un fasciste (“Memoirs of a Fascist”). It is highly notable because Pauvert heavily expurgated roughly 125 pages of the original text to remove its most violently anti-Semitic and extreme wartime passages. 

Historical Context of the Book

• A Controversial Document: Originally published in July 1942 during the German occupation of France, Les Décombres became a massive, infamous bestseller. 
• The Content: Written by fascist journalist Lucien Rebatet, the text is an aggressive polemic that vitriolically blames democracy, Jews, and the political establishment for the 1940 military collapse of France. Because of his collaborationist activities and writings, Rebatet was sentenced to death after the war, though his sentence was later commuted. 

Today, copies of the 1976 Pauvert printing in “Good” condition are collected primarily as historical artifacts and reference materials documenting the intellectual history of European fascism and French collaboration. 

For a copy of Les Décombres (Vol. 1 of Mémoires d’un fasciste) in “Good” condition published by Pauvert in 1976, the estimated market value is typically between £25 and £50.

Because it is an expurgated French paperback, it holds historical value for collectors but does not fetch the high prices of the rare 1942 first editions (which can sell for well over £100). Below is the breakdown of the content included in your specific edition and the factors determining its market price. 

Content of the 1976 Pauvert Edition

Your copy contains the first volume of Rebatet’s post-war reissue project, titled Les mémoires d’un fasciste: I. Les décombres (1938–1940). 

• The Core Narrative: It covers the immediate pre-war years and the catastrophic military collapse of France in 1940. It is written as a sharp, highly opinionated polemic blaming French democracy, the military high command, and political institutions for the defeat. 
• The Heavy Edits: Publisher Jean-Jacques Pauvert only agreed to print the book if the most extreme, violently anti-Semitic, and pro-Nazi passages from the 1942 original were removed. Roughly 125 pages were cut, including an infamous chapter titled “Le Ghetto”. 

Valuation Factors & Market Price

• Condition (“Good”): In book collecting terms, “Good” means the book is complete and intact, but shows obvious signs of wear. For this 1976 paperback, this usually means a creased spine, lightly yellowed pages, and typical shelf wear to the cover. 
• Completeness: This publication originally came in a two-volume set (Volume II covered 1941–1947). A single volume on its own is worth less than the complete set.
• Recent Sales Data: On French secondary book markets like Leboncoin, individual copies of Volume 1 from 1976 regularly list between £30 to £40 depending on how well the cover has been preserved.