Modern Algeria: The Origins and Development of a Nation

Abstract

Modern Algeria: The Origins and Development of a Nation. Second edition. By John Ruedy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005. Pp. xii, 325; 7 maps. $21.95 paper. The pioneering "first generation" of American historians studying Algeria's modern period prominently included, among others, Alf Andrew Heggoy, David C. Gordon, and Richard and Joan Brace. John Ruedy, professor emeritus of Georgetown University, bridged that generation with an emerging generation of historians through his teaching and books, notably Land Policy in Algeria (1967) and especially Modern Algeria (1991). His comprehension, contribution, and, above all, his clarity are most appreciated in a relatively understudied field. Indiana University Press wisely asked Professor Ruedy to produce a second edition of Modern Algeria, which remains the best historical survey of the country in English. The book studies Algeria's political, social, and economic history from the Ottoman era to the contemporary period. In his preface to the first edition of Modern Algeria (included in the second edition), Ruedy identified himself within the "liberal school of Algerian historiography" (p. xi) headlined by Charles-Andre Julien and Charles-Robert Ageron. The College de France's Jacques Berque was also an influence and taught Ruedy at the University of California-Los Angeles. (Berque fondly recalls his "senior student" in Memoires des deux rives [Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1989, 218].) In his second preface, Ruedy reflects on Algeria's unfulfilled endeavors in its modern history to create a "consensus regarding national identity." As disclosed by such self-defining documents as the Algiers Charter (1964), the National Charter (1976), and four constitutions, Algeria has sought to answer "the question of who Algerians are and where they wish to proceed" (p. ix). That question is still being addressed. In the new edition, Ruedy left the first seven chapters unchanged, revised the eighth, and seamlessly added a ninth entitled "Insurgency and the Pursuit of Democracy." This chapter studies the tragic conflict in Algeria that commenced after the cancellation of the second round of parliamentary elections in January 1992 and the dismantling of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). Approximately 150,000 Algerians have lost their lives since 1992 in what many have called, especially in the popular press, a "civil war." Ruedy characterizes the conflict as "an insurgency, since, in spite of its toll, only a small minority of Algerians supported the Islamists' resort to war and the number of their combatants peaked at no more than 25,000" (p. 257). He explains that the violence "was far more than the result of confrontation between Islamists and security forces." It included intra-Islamist assaults, clan conflicts, and indiscriminate killings. …