Rating: 
Summary: Classic
Review: A cracker of a book. Horne is one of best living historians writing in English. Relevant information and unforgettable images blend in this narrative. I'll warmly recomend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Incomparable Masterpiece
Review: Alistair Horne's "A Savage War of Peace" -- a narrative of the Algerian death struggle with France in the 1950s and early 1960s -- is history at its finest. Clearly written, passionate and authoritative, this book is a shining example that objective and powerful history can be written on "current events" (the book was first published barely a decade after the French pulled out of Algeria).As the US-led coalition in Iraq struggles to impose order, comparisons with France's ultimately unsuccessful attempt at holding on to Algeria in the face of Islamic insurgents have become fashionable. Such analogies, however, should be used cautiously. There are a number of salient differences in the two cases. None looms larger than the relatively large and vocal pied noir community in Algeria that Paris had to contend with, first politically and then militarily. In some Algerian cities in the 1950s, such as Constantine, a majority of the residents were of European extraction (although not necessarily French). These pied noirs had roots in Algeria for generations and had a powerful lobby in Paris. A simple political withdrawal from Algeria in 1955 was thus (in my opinion) a political impossibility. The ugly war that erupted was, in the end, tragically unavoidable. Horne would certainly disagree with this assessment. Myopic intransigence by the French and pied noir leaders is a leitmotif of the narrative. Yet, the author just as consistently praises the FLN leadership for laying out their aims at the 1956 Soumman Conferences and never wavering from them. Algerian inflexibility, it seems, was a virtue; for the French/pied noir community it was a sin. There is so much to praise in Horne's work (the minor disagreement above notwithstanding) that no review, no matter how flattering, will fully do it justice. If you are student of military history or have a keen interest in colonial / counter-insurgency conflict, "A Savage War of Peace" is as good as it gets. Unfortunately, this book is no longer in print, so you may have to scour used bookstores and various online resources to obtain a copy, but it is worth the effort. There is also a decent chance it will be re-issued in the near future. Failing that, there is always the local library. The important thing is to get your hands on a copy. If you love history, you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Incomparable Masterpiece
Review: Alistair Horne's "A Savage War of Peace" -- a narrative of the Algerian death struggle with France in the 1950s and early 1960s -- is history at its finest. Clearly written, passionate and authoritative, this book is a shining example that objective and powerful history can be written on "current events" (the book was first published barely a decade after the French pulled out of Algeria). As the US-led coalition in Iraq struggles to impose order, comparisons with France's ultimately unsuccessful attempt at holding on to Algeria in the face of Islamic insurgents have become fashionable. Such analogies, however, should be used cautiously. There are a number of salient differences in the two cases. None looms larger than the relatively large and vocal pied noir community in Algeria that Paris had to contend with, first politically and then militarily. In some Algerian cities in the 1950s, such as Constantine, a majority of the residents were of European extraction (although not necessarily French). These pied noirs had roots in Algeria for generations and had a powerful lobby in Paris. A simple political withdrawal from Algeria in 1955 was thus (in my opinion) a political impossibility. The ugly war that erupted was, in the end, tragically unavoidable. Horne would certainly disagree with this assessment. Myopic intransigence by the French and pied noir leaders is a leitmotif of the narrative. Yet, the author just as consistently praises the FLN leadership for laying out their aims at the 1956 Soumman Conferences and never wavering from them. Algerian inflexibility, it seems, was a virtue; for the French/pied noir community it was a sin. There is so much to praise in Horne's work (the minor disagreement above notwithstanding) that no review, no matter how flattering, will fully do it justice. If you are student of military history or have a keen interest in colonial / counter-insurgency conflict, "A Savage War of Peace" is as good as it gets. Unfortunately, this book is no longer in print, so you may have to scour used bookstores and various online resources to obtain a copy, but it is worth the effort. There is also a decent chance it will be re-issued in the near future. Failing that, there is always the local library. The important thing is to get your hands on a copy. If you love history, you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Incomparable Masterpiece
Review: Alistair Horne's "A Savage War of Peace" -- a narrative of the Algerian death struggle with France in the 1950s and early 1960s -- is history at its finest. Clearly written, passionate and authoritative, this book is a shining example that objective and powerful history can be written on "current events" (the book was first published barely a decade after the French pulled out of Algeria). As the US-led coalition in Iraq struggles to impose order, comparisons with France's ultimately unsuccessful attempt at holding on to Algeria in the face of Islamic insurgents have become fashionable. Such analogies, however, should be used cautiously. There are a number of salient differences in the two cases. None looms larger than the relatively large and vocal pied noir community in Algeria that Paris had to contend with, first politically and then militarily. In some Algerian cities in the 1950s, such as Constantine, a majority of the residents were of European extraction (although not necessarily French). These pied noirs had roots in Algeria for generations and had a powerful lobby in Paris. A simple political withdrawal from Algeria in 1955 was thus (in my opinion) a political impossibility. The ugly war that erupted was, in the end, tragically unavoidable. Horne would certainly disagree with this assessment. Myopic intransigence by the French and pied noir leaders is a leitmotif of the narrative. Yet, the author just as consistently praises the FLN leadership for laying out their aims at the 1956 Soumman Conferences and never wavering from them. Algerian inflexibility, it seems, was a virtue; for the French/pied noir community it was a sin. There is so much to praise in Horne's work (the minor disagreement above notwithstanding) that no review, no matter how flattering, will fully do it justice. If you are student of military history or have a keen interest in colonial / counter-insurgency conflict, "A Savage War of Peace" is as good as it gets. Unfortunately, this book is no longer in print, so you may have to scour used bookstores and various online resources to obtain a copy, but it is worth the effort. There is also a decent chance it will be re-issued in the near future. Failing that, there is always the local library. The important thing is to get your hands on a copy. If you love history, you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: a cautionary tale for the leaders of the "war on terrorism"
Review: Although it was one of the deadliest counter-insurgency campaigns in history, costing over 1 million lives, English-speaking writers tend to overlook the war in Algeria. Alistair Horne's book fills that gap with a masterful narrative that weaves quotations, statistics, and analysis in a readable, journalistic style. The author balances the full horror of the conflict - massacres, razzias, torture, mob-violence - with the war's political dimension. The war in Algeria nearly cost France its democracy. An embittered, defeated military twice mutinied against a corrupt and cowardly civil authority. It concluded with De Gaulle's return (deus ex machine). The entire government resigned to make way for "le grand homme." The National Assembly granted him dictatorial powers. In a display of self-restraint all too rare in history, De Gaulle used his power to re-write the French Constitution (a dramatic improvement) and restore peace. An astute reader will be struck by the similarity between the ruthless F.L.N. and our present enemies, the Taliban. The book vividly demonstrates what can happen when civil and military authorities collide, and each decides to take matters into its own hands.
Rating: 
Summary: War and no peace
Review: At the outset Alistair Horne bemoans the complexities and difficulties involved in writing recent history, where many of the main players are still alive and active. Ironically, he is the one who falls into that trap - for the only faults to this otherwise excellent rendition is the occaisonal of-the-cuff cryptic reference by the author to some event that happened at the time. He obviously assumes that everybody would share his joke. But these are few and tiny details. Over all this is an excellent text. Horne admirably makes up for the lack of documentation on the Algerian side of the war and manages, somehow, dispite that massive misbalance in printed references between France and Algeria, to present a text which presents both sides with equal scholarly depth. More than a million people died in the Algerian war, yet it is poorly remembered today. Books like this are needed.
Rating:
Summary: War and no peace
Review: At the outset Alistair Horne bemoans the complexities and difficulties involved in writing recent history, where many of the main players are still alive and active. Ironically, he is the one who falls into that trap - for the only faults to this otherwise excellent rendition is the occaisonal of-the-cuff cryptic reference by the author to some event that happened at the time. He obviously assumes that everybody would share his joke. But these are few and tiny details. Over all this is an excellent text. Horne admirably makes up for the lack of documentation on the Algerian side of the war and manages, somehow, dispite that massive misbalance in printed references between France and Algeria, to present a text which presents both sides with equal scholarly depth. More than a million people died in the Algerian war, yet it is poorly remembered today. Books like this are needed.
Rating:
Summary: A gripping tale, but beset with narrative problems
Review: Horne, in his usually lucid, well-crafted style, tackles the horrors of France's civil war in Algeria in the late 1950's and early 60's, which culminated in the collapse of the Fourth Republic and the near destruction of DeGaulle's Fifth Republic. Full of heart-rending tales of guerilla terrorism, and written with great sensetivity toward both sides in the awful conflict, Horne presents a complete, exhaustively researched account, including interviews with some of the people who stood at the center of events in those tumultuous years. The major flaw in the work is the chronology. Difficult as it is to define a clear series of events in so complicated a situation, it is the author's responsibility to establish some system by which the reader may grasp what happens in what order. Here, Horne fails, leaving the reader to wonder what is actually happening at any point in the narrative. If you are prepared to frequently consult the timeline found in the back of the book, I recommend this
Rating:
Summary: The FLN was not like the Taliban
Review: I take issue with the reader who compared The FLN to the Taliban. If anything the French were more like the Taliban--their use of torture was routine and people could hear the screams of prisoners from police stations every day.
The tragedy of North Africa and the Mid-East after colonial rule is the failure of the secular regimes and the rise of a retrograde Islam. What that area needs now are more people like Nasser or Ben Bella though hopefully with a broader vision of democracy. The alternative is Bin Laden and the Taliban. Any brutalities committed by the FLN (and there were many) pale in comparison to the French many of whom fresh out of German concentration camps apparently brought what they had learned from their captors. French colonialism in Africa was second only to Belgum in its ferocity racism and pure cruelty. That was then--what happens now is anybody's guess.
Rating:
Summary: The author at his best.
Review: I've read most of this author's works. His trilogy--The Fall of Paris, The Price of Glory, To Lose a Battle---is excellent, but the author reaches his pinnacle in "Savage War". He shows a masterful understanding of politics, strategy, tactics, and national feeling. I have met men who served under Salan, Massu, and Challe, and the portrayals of these leaders by the author harmonize with what I've been told. The subject may seem remote in time and in interest, but the author has written a gripping story, and also gets "down and dirty" into the details. This is a rewarding book for anyone with an interest in military as well as political history.
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