Uncivil War: Intellectuals and identity politics during the decolonization of Algeria, (Second Edition)
by James D. Le Sueur, foreword by Pierre Bourdieu

“An illuminating study of French intellectual responses to the war.” — New York Review of Books

“An important work that analyzes the development of conceptions of identity in a dynamic historical situation, revealing their possibilities and limits. It deserves to be widely read and discussed.” — Journal of Modern History

“Le Sueur’s great achievement is to reveal the complexity of the political and moral choices faced by intellectuals and, by extension, by the wider populations of Algeria and France.” — Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

“Le Sueur has provided an insightful and lively interpretation of an ongoing moral, sociological, political, and intellectual struggle taking place on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea.” — American Historical Review

“Uncivil War is indispensable reading for re-assessing the greater historical significance of the Algerian War.” — Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations

Uncivil War is a provocative study of the intellectuals who confronted the loss of France’s most prized overseas possession: colonial Algeria. Tracing the intellectual history of one of the most violent and pivotal wars of European decolonization, James D. Le Sueur illustrates how key figures such as Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Germaine Tillion, Jacques Soustelle, Raymond Aron, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Albert Memmi, Frantz Fanon, Mouloud Feraoun, Jean Amrouche, and Pierre Bourdieu agonized over the “Algerian question.” As Le Sueur argues, these individuals and others forged new notions of the nation and nationalism, giving rise to a politics of identity that continues to influence debate around the world. This edition features an important new chapter on the intellectual responses to the recent torture debates in France, the civil war in Algeria, and terrorism since September 11, 2001.