A Savage War of Peace Algeria 1954-1962

The Algerian War lasted from 1954 to 1962. It brought down six French governments, led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic, returned de Gaulle to power, and came close to provoking a civil war on French soil. More than a million Muslim Algerians died in the conflict and as many European settlers were driven into exile. Above all, the war was marked by an unholy marriage of revolutionary terror and repressive torture. Nearly a half century has passed since this savagely fought war ended in Algeria's independence, and yetas Alistair Horne argues in his new preface to his now-classic work of historyits repercussions continue to be felt not only in Algeria and France, but throughout the world. Indeed from today's vantage point the Algerian War looks like a full-dress rehearsal for the sort of amorphous struggle that convulsed the Balkans in the 1990s and that now ravages the Middle East, from Beirut to Baghdadstruggles in which questions of religion, nationalism, imperialism, and terrorism take on a new and increasingly lethal intensity. A Savage War of Peaceis the deFinitive history of the Algerian War, a book that brings that terrible and complicated struggle to life with intelligence, assurance, and unflagging momentum. It is essential reading for our own violent times as well as a lasting monument to the historian's art. TABLE OF CONTENTS Illustrations Map of Algeria Map of ALgiers Preface PART ONE: Prelude 1830-1954 "A Town of Great Interest" "Ici, c'est la France" In the Middle of the Ford PART TWO: The War 1954-1958 All Saint's Day, 1954 The Sorcerer's Cauldron The FLN: From Bandung to Soummam The Second Fronts of Guy Mollett "Why We Must Win" The Battle of Algiers Lost Round for the FLN The World Takes Notice Le Dernier Quart d'Heure PART THREE: The Hardest of ALl Victories 1958-1962 A Kind Resurrection "Je Vous Ai Compris" The FLN Holds Its Breath Neither the Djebel nor the Night "Aux Barricades!" "This Prince of Ambiguity" Revolution in the Revolution De Gaulle Caught in the Draught The Generals' Putsch Pvertures for Peace The Suitcase or the Coffin Exodus The Page is Turned Afterword Colonel Godard's Organogram Political and Military Abbreviations Chronology Bibliography Reference Notes Clossary Index

ALISTAIR HORNE is the author of eighteen previous books, including A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954—1962, The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916, How Far from Austerlitz?: Napoleon 1805—1815 and the official biography of British prime minister Harold Macmillan. He is a fellow at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford, and lives in Oxfordshire. He was awarded the French L?gion d’Honneur in 1993 and received a knighthood in 2003 for his work on French history.