On Christmas Eve 1942, the Commander in Chief of the French Fleet, Admiral Jean Louis Francois Darlan, was assassinated in Algiers, which had been occupied by the Allies only a few weeks earlier. A supremely enigmatic figure, Darlan had reached a position of great power and influence, almost equal, in the hierarchy of Vichy France, to that of Marshal Petain himself. He was an obstacle to the plans of many people, all of whom breathed a sigh of relief as the news came of his death. But who murdered him? And for what reasons? The Murder of Admiral Darlan is an important and dramatic work of history. It is also a shocking exploration into the hidden depths of wartime power politics