The zad (‘zone à défendre’) of Notre-Dame-des-Landes has become the largest open-air squat in Europe. An utopia realized for some, a space for encounters and an active critique of capitalism, it has not finished arousing passions.

Bringing together many stories, photographs, sketches and unpublished maps, this book tells the evolution of a territory where this simple gesture, to live, is inseparable from that of fighting.

The ZAD of Notre-Dame-des-Landes (where ZAD means "zone to defend") is a social experiment set up by opponents of the Grand Ouest airport project, in Notre-Dame-des-Landes, in Loire-Atlantique , in France, wishing, initially, in particular to defend a preserved wetland, at the origin of several rivers: watersheds of Gesvres, Hocmard and Isac and of an airport project considered by the opponents of the project as one of the "useless major works".

It then became an area for experimenting with life in a non-market society and various other social experiments, which would continue in part after the abandonment of the airport project.

Various agricultural activities have been developed in the ZAD. Buildings are created with self-construction techniques.

In 2014, 200 people organized their living space on 1,600 hectares, and around sixty sites, redeveloped old farms, squatted houses, and cabins were built, in wood or cob. Activities are developed; internet caravan, bakery, around twenty agricultural projects, including the breeding of dairy cows, beekeeping, market gardening, and the cultivation of medicinal plants, as well as an orchard. The zadists aim for food self-sufficiency and also make butter and cheese. The zadists reject the law of supply and demand and therefore market relations by selling at free price or free of charge, for example, bread, fruit or even vegetables1. Bucks are used to clear ditches and hedges. The zadists also exchange with the peasants of the surroundings. The “ZAD News” newspaper was for a long time distributed on Monday afternoons by a team of postmen. Screenings, debates and concerts are regularly organised. At the social level, a group welcomes people in psychological distress or encountering problems with drugs. A "children's home" manages births. As part of the convergence of struggles, African migrants are also welcomed, French lessons and help in filling out asylum applications are provided in connection with No Border in Calais.

Operation César is an operation to dismantle the ZAD which takes place under the presidency of François Hollande (May 2012 - May 2017), from October 12, 2012 in the morning. It mobilized 1,500 people among the forces of order. A year after this operation, the Zadists celebrate their first victory.

After the failed evacuation of this ZAD in the fall of 2012, ZADs multiplied in France.

In January 2018, under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, the government declared that it was abandoning the airport project, but began expulsions from the ZAD from April 9, at 3 a.m. All the huts in the east of the area are destroyed in this time frame.