Essay on Algeria
by Alexis de Tocqueville · Travail sur l'Algérie
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1841
- Form
- Essay
- Language
- French
- Length
- Short · 60 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendWritings on Empire and Slavery, translated by Jennifer PittsJohns Hopkins University Press, 2001The standard English text of the Algeria writings, with an introduction that explains their place in Tocqueville's politics.
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A memorandum Tocqueville wrote after his first visit to Algeria, unpublished in his lifetime, on how France should hold and govern its new conquest. He takes French domination as settled and asks how it can be made to last, examining the country's tribes and towns, the Arab and Kabyle populations, the conduct of the war against Abd al-Qadir, and the administration of the settler colony. He argues for European settlement and for giving the colonists civil liberties, criticises the brutality and lawlessness of French military rule as damaging to France itself, and at the same time accepts measures against the Arab population that he would have condemned at home.
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The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Essay on Algeria are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
