Most of the chapters in this volume originated in a seminar on retroactive justice (the now-standard term transitional justice had not yet taken hold) held at Columbia University in 1998–99. To improve the balance of the volume, two additional contributions have been included. The chapter by David Cohen on transitional justice in Germany after 1945 was specially written for this volume. To cover the trials and purges that took place in France after the Liberation in 1944, there was no better solution than to translate the most up-to-date essay by the foremost specialist on the topic, Henry Rousso. My own editorial contributions have been kept relatively brief, to reduce the overlap with my monograph Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2004). Because I thought the present book should also be able to stand on its own, however, some redundancy was inevitable.

My thanks go first to the Mellon Foundation for its generous support of the Columbia seminar and of other related activities. I am also grateful to the Research Council of Norway for offering a subvention to cover the costs of translating Henry Rousso's essay and other publishing expenses. I would also like to thank the anonymous referees of Cambridge University Press, who pointed out the need for the chapters on Germany and France, as well as making a number of other valuable comments. Monika Nalepa offered superb research assistance.