"The Camp of the Saints" initially received a positive reception in France, with most critics focusing on the "prophetic" nature of the story. It was praised by journalist Bernard Pivot and intellectuals such as Jean Anouilh, Hervé Bazin, Michel Déon, Jean Cau, Thierry Maulnier and Louis Pauwels. After the book was translated into English in 1975, journalist Max Lerner wrote that it had "irresistible pace of skill and narrative". Philosopher Sidney Hook said that it would "succeed in shocking and challenging the complacent contemporary mind." In 1975, "Time" magazine panned the novel as a "bilious tirade" that only required a response because it "arrives trailing clouds of praise from French savants, including Dramatist Jean Anouilh ('A haunting book of irresistible force and calm logic'), with the imprint of a respected U.S. publisher and a teasing pre-publication ad campaign ('The end of the white world is near')".