"The book describes the tense days of the military attempt to root out public opposition in the streets of Santiago after the fall of Salvador Allende to Augusto Pinochet’s coup in 1973. Containing 24 black-and gravures (most of them double page).
The Dutch photographer Koen Wessing was on the streets of Santiago immediately after the coup happened. His gritty documentary pictures were quickly published in this no frills, extremely elegant photobook. There are not many images in the book, but each is carefully considered, modest and succinct . Despite the difficulties of taking photographs in such a tense and difficult situation. The main thrust of the book is the coups immediate aftermath, the shock and grief of the people, the rounding up of Allendes supporters by the Army, and their herding into the now notorious National Stadium in Santiago, where many would be tortured and killed. Wessing vividly captures one of these executions, in a two-page sequence that forms the books climax."
— Martin Parr / Gerry Badger in The Photobook: A History Volume I
