''Mission Box'' () is a

political novel Political fiction employs narrative to comment on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction, such as political novels, often "directly criticize an existing society or present an alternative, even fant ...

by Greek writer

Aris Alexandrou Aris Alexandrou (; real name: Αριστοτέλης Βασιλειάδης, ''Aristotelis Vasiliadis''; 24 November 1922 – 2 July 1979) was a Greek novelist, poet and translator. Always on the Left and always unconventional ("I belong to the n ...

, his most known work. It was written from 1966 to 1972 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where Alexandrou lived in self-exile, following the 1967 coup. The novel was first published in Greek in 1974, by Kedros Publications.Άρης Αλεξάνδρου. ''Το κιβώτιο.'' Κέδρος. Αθήνα. Τριακοστή δεύτερη έκδοση 2016. Πρώτη έκδοση 1974. ISBN 978-960-04-0165-3. It was translated in French by Colette Lust in 1978 and in English by Robert Crist in 1996. Its plot is set in the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

era, and revolves around various related thematic poles. It is considered to be one of the greatest works of 20th-century Greek literature.

Plot

During the final period of the Greek Civil War, following an order from General Headquarters, a group of rebels undertakes to transport a crate of unknown contents to a rebel-held city, passing through enemy territory. They are told that succeeding in delivering the box shall ensure their army's final victory. As the mission unfolds, the team's members perish one after the other. In the end, only one rebel survives, finally managing to deliver the crate. However, when he arrives at his destination, the box is found to be empty and the rebel is imprisoned by his comrades for sabotage. He then begins to write reports to an anonymous interrogator, without knowing whether the interrogator reads the reports or not; these reports constitute the novel.

References

Greek novels 1974 novels Works about the Greek Civil War {{1970s-war-novel-stub