The rise and fall of the Baader-Meinhof group constitutes one of the most remarkable phenomena of post-war Europe. A group of young people, middle-class backgrounds, took the law into their own hands, and by means of arson, bombing, kidnap and murder sought to alter the direction of national, and indeed international, politics.

Stefan Aust was for many years the editor-in-chief of the political weekly Der Spiegel, Germany's most influential news magazine. He is also the founder and current publisher of Spiegel TV. He worked in the editorial offices of konkret from 1966 to 1969 and played a part in the events described in this book. Between 1970 and 1985 he made numerous documentaries for North German Television. He wrote the script for the feature film Stammheim, which won the top award at the 1986 Berlin Film Festival. He worked with Bernd Eichinger on the script for the film The Baader-Meinhof Complex (2008), which is based on his book.