A Savage War of Peace

Algeria 1954-1962

By: Alistair Horne

Narrated by: James Adams

The Algerian War lasted from 1954 to 1962. It caused the fall of six French governments, led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic, 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 state torture.

At the time, this brutal, intractable conflict seemed like a French affair. But from the perspective of half a century, it looks less like the last colonial war than the first postmodern one: a full-dress rehearsal for the amorphous struggle that convulsed the Balkans in the 1990s and that now ravages the Middle East, struggles in which religion, nationalism, imperialism, and terrorism assume unparalleled degrees of intensity.

©1977 Alistair Horne (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[This] universally acclaimed history...should have been mandatory reading for the civilian and military leaders who opted to invade Iraq." ( Washington Times)

Well Done

Well researched, written, and narrated. Interesting book about a conflict I knew close to nothing about.

Excellent

Where does A Savage War of Peace rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I highly recommend this book. It is one of the best history books I have listened to.

A North African Blood Bath

The seven and a half year war of Algerian Independence from France was full of abuse, torture and murder on the sides of the Algerians wishing freedom from their French Colonial masters , the French Military, the OAS and FLN with a great deal of civilian collateral damage. Thousands would die over the course of the war, which divided Frenchmen and Algerians. It was a war that lead to multiple attempts on the life of Charles De Gaulle, the French President. It is a war that lead to the dissolving of the IV Republique and the beginning of the V Republique in France. Alistair Horne's exacting study and detail of the war lets you get to know all of the main players from both sides of the war. It's a book that explains a lot of the nature of France's relations with North Africa and the Arab world, and Algeria's current role in the World, as well. It's quite a book, but worth your time.

Very engaging account

I liked this book. The author did a great job of describing events without getting bogged down in details. Unbiased and engaging. I'm not a Francophone. But I must admit they have great architecture and cuisine.....And Authors. "The street without joy" Algerian version.

Outstanding

This is an excellent book. A good overview of the Algerian war, well written, with a superb narration, that makes listening to it a very good and entertaining experience. The book does not limit itself to a narration of the most relevant aspects of the Algerian war, but it also provides a sensible analysis of such events, its causes and consequences and the relevant actors.
I bought this book after having listened to another of Alistair Horne's audiobooks, also narrated by James Adams. I can only recommend both. These books are history at its best, coupled with a narration that makes the book all the more interesting.