Overview

Beyond the affluent centre of Paris and other French cities, in the deprived banlieues, a war is going on. This is the French Intifada, a guerrilla war between the French state and the former subjects of its Empire, for whom the mantra of 'liberty, equality, fraternity' conceals a bitter history of domination, oppression, and brutality. This war began in the early 1800s, with Napoleon's lust for martial adventure, strategic power and imperial preeminence, and led to the armed colonization of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and decades of bloody conflict, all in the name of 'civilization'. Here, against the backdrop of the Arab Spring, Andrew Hussey walks the front lines of this war - from the Gare du Nord in Paris to the souks of Marrakesh and the mosques of Tangier - to tell the strange and complex story of the relationship between secular, republican France and the Muslim world of North Africa. The result is a completely new portrait of an old nation. Combining a fascinating and compulsively readable mix of history, politics and literature with Hussey's years of personal experience travelling across the Arab World, The French Intifada reveals the role played by the countries of the Magreb in shaping French history, and explores the challenge being mounted by today's dispossessed heirs to the colonial project: a challenge that is angrily and violently staking a claim on France's future.

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9781847082596

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Reviews

There is some terrific and chilling reporting [here] and Hussey is at his best when on the streets... Provocative... an important new book * Economist * Compelling... Hussey makes a strong case that France's contemporary malaise can only be understood in the light of [its] tragic history... Fascinating and hugely readable -- Matthew Campbell * Sunday Times * Vivid, arresting, and striking... Hussey is a talented writer, and knows his subject... Nuanced and persuasive * Guardian * Rigorous, perceptive, clear-eyed, colourful and powerful, Andrew Hussey's The French Intifada is an important, and highly readable, book which should be read by anyone interested in France today, and in the broader question of Islam in Europe in the 21st century -- Jason Burke Disturbing and provocative -- Rupert Edis * Daily Telegraph**** * A refreshing account [that] blends colourful narrative history with lively reportage and analysis... [This is] a good introduction to the most sensitive issues of race, religion, citizenship and history that grip modern France -- Tony Barber * Financial Times * [It] mixes lively street reportage with the history of two brutal centuries in France's former Maghreb territories... This is strong stuff -- Charles Bremner * New Statesman * A vivid illumination of the ongoing, painful and perhaps insoluble French dilemma * Kirkus * Hussey stresses the dire economic circumstances that prevail and the toxic mix of big ambitions, poor education and refusal to believe in hard graft -- Michael Burleigh * The Times * [This book] deserves our admiration -- Nick Fraser * Observer * Hussey is an engaging guide... writing with authority and humour about everything from Zinedine Zidane to architecture... A fascinating and enjoyable read * Irish Examiner * Pithy... [with] effective potted histories of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco -- Farah Nayeri * Independent * Extremely readable... a page-turner... Highly recommended * Morning Star * Urgent and brilliant... Superb writing on the complexities of race, religion and immigration that situates this in the legacies of Empire and colonialism -- Mark Perryman * Counterfire * Lively and well paced -- Natasha Lerner * TLS * Indispensable -- Patrick Marnham * 'Books of the Year' Spectator * Excellence recurs in The French Intifada, where a lust for travel and understanding of the past produces a book of disturbing power. [Hussey] brings a depth of knowledge to a study of the legacy of French colonial sojourns in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, making his travelogue read like a literary history-cum-dark documentary thriller -- Tom Adair 'Travel book of the year' * Scotsman * Fascinating and hugely readable -- Matthew Campbell ‘Pick of the Paperbacks’ * Sunday Times * Andrew Hussey knows France and its colonial history better than most French people. He tells the ugly truth... He offers no solutions, but his willingness to delve into other belief systems is a worth-while, sobering journey. French officials should read Hussey's book -- Lara Marlowe * Irish Times * Fascinating -- Charles Moore * Spectator *

Author Information

Andrew Hussey is Director of the Centre for Post-Colonial Studies in the School of Advanced Study, University of London. He is a regular contributor to the Guardian and the New Statesman, and the writer/presenter of several BBC documentaries on French food and art. He is the author of The Game of War: The Life and Death of Guy Debord (2001), and Paris: The Secret History (2006). He was awarded an OBE in the 2011 New Years Honours list for services to cultural relations between the United Kingdom and France. He lives in Paris.

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