"This is the true story of Aziz BineBine who, unwittingly entangled in a failed coup against King Hassan II, found himself locked in a small, underground cell in a prison thought to be a mere horror story: Tazmamart. For 18 years, no one knew where the prison’s inmates were. No one knew if they were even alive...Set to become a cult classic of survival literature, Tazmamart is a hellish journey through the abyss of despair – and out the other side."
— Institut Français
"Tazmamart is an utterly heartbreaking book which forces you to completely reconsider your own freedom, pointing out the glaringly obvious fact that at any given second, millions of people are living their own inescapable dystopias."
— New Welsh Review, Amy Aed
"Binebine’s Tazmamart narrative is less artful than the others, most of which were co-composed with professional writers. Yet that is also what makes Binebine’s the most achingly real."
— Quantara.de
"For all the suffering, this isn’t a depressing book. On the contrary, it is compulsively readable and even uplifting, because the lesson BineBine imparts is one of love and dry-eyed compassion. Faultlessly translated by Lulu Norman, Tazmamart is a deeply moving testament to the strength of the human spirit."
— Spectator
"A powerful tribute to human fortitude and imagination – and perfect reading for incarcerated times."
— Guardian
"This is an incredible memoir, a story of indomitability of the human spirit over adversity, an epic story of survival."
— Irish Examiner
"Tazmamart is the poignant and profound account, immaculately translated from the French, of an arbitrary incarceration..."
— The Tablet
"..a must read for anyone interested in human rights and Morocco’s hidden past."
— BookBlast Diary
"BineBine exposes the reader to a system that withholds medicine, personal and communal hygiene, sustenance, light, and any hope of law or freedom. This memoir is the story of all prisoners kept in these conditions as much as it is BineBine’s . . . . The book displays innate gifts within the human, and how, with quiet resistance, the spirit can survive."
— Wasafiri Magazine