Algeria: France's Undeclared War (Paperback)
  • Algeria: France's Undeclared War (Paperback)
zoom

Algeria: France's Undeclared War (Paperback)

(author)
£16.99
Paperback 496 Pages
Published: 07/03/2013
  • In stock

Usually dispatched within 1-2 working days

  • This item has been added to your basket

Invaded in 1830, populated by one million settlers who co-existed uneasily with nine million Arabs and Berbers, Algeria was different from other French colonies because it was administered as an integral part of France, in theory no different from Normandy or Brittany. The depth and scale of the colonization process explains why the Algerian War of 1954 to 1962 was one of the longest and most violent of the decolonization struggles.

An undeclared war in the sense that there was no formal beginning of hostilities, the conflict produced huge tensions that brought down four governments, ended the Fourth Republic in 1958, and mired the French army in accusations of torture and mass human rights abuses. In carefully re-examining the origins and consequences of the conflict, Martin Evans argues that it was the Socialist-led Republican Front, in power from January 1956 until May 1957, which was the defining moment in the war, rather than the later administration under De Gaulle. Predicated on the belief in the universal civilizing mission of the Fourth Republic, coupled with the conviction that Algerian nationalism was feudal and religiously fanatical in character, the Republican Front dramatically intensified the war in the spring of 1956.

Drawing upon previously classified archival sources as well as new oral testimonies, France's Undeclared War is the first major English-language history of the Algerian conflict in a generation. Throughout, Martin Evans underlines the ultimately irreconcilable conflict of values between the Republican Front and Algerian nationalism, explaining how this clash produced patterns of thought and action, such as the institutionalization of torture and the raising of pro-French Muslim militias, which tragically polarized choices and framed all stages of the conflict.

Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199669035
Number of pages: 496
Weight: 730 g
Dimensions: 224 x 153 x 37 mm


MEDIA REVIEWS

Excellent - The Economist

Masterly - History Today

Original - Le Monde Diplomatique

Evans, a master scholar, has produced a comprehensive narrative. - Foreign Affairs

Strikingly illustrated and using novel archival sources ... scintillating - Literary Review

You may also be interested in...

Bullets, Bombs and Cups of Tea
Added to basket
The British Army since 2000
Added to basket
National Service
Added to basket
Paperback
£7.99
SAS Operation Storm
Added to basket
Paperback
£12.99
The War of the Running Dogs
Added to basket
The Iran–Iraq War
Added to basket
The Biafran War
Added to basket
Paperback
£24.99
National Service
Added to basket
Paperback
£16.99
One Hundred Days
Added to basket
Who Dares Wins
Added to basket
Small Wars, Far Away Places
Added to basket
Spetsnaz
Added to basket
Paperback
£14.99
Falklands War
Added to basket
Paperback
£18.99
Operation Mayhem
Added to basket
Paperback
£9.99

Please sign in to write a review

Your review has been submitted successfully.