A Savage War of Peace

Book excerpt: The Algerian war was at once the last of the old-style "colonial wars" and the archetype of horribly savage new conflicts - undeclared wars between old and new worlds - waged successfully by urban terrorists and country-based guerrillas against crack modern armies. In eight years, more than a million Algerians died and an equal number of Europeans lost their homes. It was a tragedy rife with lessons Americans had to learn all over again in Vietnam. As the Third World continues to make its aspirations felt, and established political powers continue to maintain an order they must struggle to impose, the story of Algeria's fight for independence stands as model and prophecy. A SAVAGE WAR OF PEACE is the definitive history of that prophetic war.