Alain Bashung is one of France's most beloved singer-songwriters, probably on a par with Serge Gainsbourg. This book provides a detailed account of the making of the album that took him to the peak of his career: Fantaisie militaire (1998).

When he got down to making his tenth studio album in 1996, Alain Bashung had to get over a painful episode, which would infuse and enrich the lyrics chiseled with Jean Fauque. On the musical level, Bashung wanted to remain elusive: he set up numerous experimental workshops entrusted to musicians, encouraging them to surprise him in order to accompany this respected voice of French rock. The account of the two years spent creating Fantaisie militaire draws on direct testimonies from all the contributors, and outlines the surprising working method of a highly inspired and intuitive artist.