The Algerian War, The Algerian Revolution

Abstract

The Algerian War of Independence (1954–62) was perhaps the bloodiest and most violent of the wars of decolonization. Its legacy continues to be felt and hotly debated by historians, journalists and both French and Algerian politicians. Natalya Vince’s book delves into these debates, providing a clear historiography, chronology of events and analysis of current polemics surrounding the conflict. While the majority of the literature on the conflict is in French, a few anglophone historians have produced narrative histories, the most notable of these being Alistair Horne’s A Savage War of Peace and the more recent Algeria: France’s Undeclared War by Martin Evans. Vince, however, offers a refreshingly new perspective on the history of the conflict, predominantly focussing on Algerian viewpoints. This is first evidenced in the title of the book, with the inclusion of the term ‘Algerian Revolution’ (al-thawra al-jazāʾiriyya), favoured by the Algerians, rather than the more commonly employed ‘Algerian War’ which Vince argues reflects a French bias.