The civil war, with tens of thousands of dead on the battlefields, the executions of political prisoners, and the hundreds of thousands of internal refugees, was an extremely traumatic experience that deeply divided Greek society for decades, into winners and losers. This division affected the scientific and public debate, which revolved around the question of "who is to blame", seeking to assign responsibility for the outbreak of the civil war to one of the two opponents.

The book poses a different question: what was the Greek civil war? This war was not a predetermined decision of either side, but the result of a complex process. Starting from the explosive situation that had arisen in Greece after the Occupation, the author examines how political polarization, through violence and persecution, gradually turned into a military conflict. It also explores the interaction between society and political protagonists, as shaped by the new realities created by the conflict. Both the government and the guerrillas sought to mobilize society on their side and neutralize the social support of the opponent, while different dynamics developed between urban and rural areas regarding their involvement in the war.

The book provides a comprehensive approach to the civil war. Focusing on the Democratic Army of Greece, it argues that the Greek civil war was a revolution, even if, as it unfolded, it could not be victorious - in other words, it was an impossible revolution.