In the Secrets of the Sphinx – Behind the Wall of Silence

Preface by General Patrick Manificat

This new book on General Jeannou Lacaze — Legion officer, officer of the 11e Choc at the SDECE, commanding officer of the 2e REP from 1967 to 1970, director of intelligence at the SDECE from 1971 to 1976, commander of the 11th Parachute Division from 1977 to 1978, Chief of the Defence Staff from 1981 to 1985, adviser to the Minister of Defence from 1985 to 1989, adviser to African heads of state from 1988 to 2001 — sheds light on the essential aspects of his career: war, action, intelligence, command, decision and influence.

Through a thematic approach — the SDECE and the Algerian War, the Ben Barka affair, Operation Farewell, the Cold War, New Caledonia, the general's networks, the defence of the French sphere of influence in Africa, the security of African heads of state — we discover a General Lacaze who was a man of influence with wide-ranging and eclectic connections, privy to many of France's secrets from 1960 to 2000. The original cross-referencing of known but previously uncorroborated or underexploited information, of documents from the general himself or previously unpublished testimonies, used with a constant concern for rigorous analysis, allows the author to revisit certain affairs — some of which caused scandal — shedding new light on them, and to recount entirely unknown facts, making this book a major document for readers eager to understand the hidden side of yesterday's and today's affairs.

Drawing lessons from the past in order to understand today's events is the purpose of this book. General Lacaze's convictions on the strategy and methods of the USSR, on the defence of New Caledonia and on the defence of the French sphere of influence in Africa are of burning relevance today, whether regarding Russia, the strategic importance of New Caledonia or the decline of French influence in Africa.