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Bookseller and publisher for more than 25 years, François Maspero is perceived by the new generation of critical publishers as a key figure in commitment through books. His atypical professional life is coherent with that period of contemporary French history characterised by the challenges of decolonialisation, the war in Algeria, and the ideological debates between the years following the uprising in May 1968 until political alternation of 1981. His actions in favour of Algerian independence and his revolutionary stand, illustrated by the publishing of such magazines as Partisans and Tricontinentale, are noteworthy. Working out of the Place Paul-Painlevé, the publisher also contributed significantly to the use of alternate approaches to the fields of social sciences and the humanities. He was closely associated with the cultural upheavals of the time and acted as a transmitter of perceptions held by the Third World at a time when they were unknown in France. His retirement coincided with a more pessimistic time, associated with globalisation in a more liberal époque. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]