Freedom, tyranny, "the people," and monarchy are topics that Paul Valéry noted down between 1936 and 1938 in a separately kept carnet, which was written in parallel to his legendary, lifelong Cahiers. In these historical, contemporary, political aperçus and short texts, he explores deep structures of anarchic thought and action: a critique of state forms, fundamental questions about nation and society, sovereignty and authority, power, violence and fear, legal forms and jurisprudence, as well as their historical protagonists, such as Napoleon, Trotsky, Hitler, or chance. His reflections are clear-sighted and surprising; written in a pre-war era, they connect frighteningly directly with our present.