New issue of Revolutionary History

The latest edition of Revolutionary History is now available to order:

European Revolutionaries and Algerian Independence, 1954-1962

This summer will mark the fiftieth anniversary of Algerian independence. Anyone who has seen the film Battle of Algiers may well see certain clear parallels between past events and the present: “terrorism”, torture, organising anti-war activity in workplaces and the armed forces, attitudes to a Muslim-led nationalist movement, etc. Both the similarities to and the differences from the current situation are instructive. The war remains a question of current interest in France, and full information about the role of the French state, notably in the October 1961 massacre, has only recently been available. The book considers the course of Algerian War 1954-1962, and the response of the French left. It will give the fullest account in English of the role of the revolutionary left in giving political and practical solidarity to the Algerian liberation struggle. It presents substantial extracts from Sylvain Pattieu’s, Les camarades des frères (Paris 2002), and will gives the fullest account of the role of Trotskyists in this period, drawing on documents and interviews with participants. An Appendix considers how the war has been reflected in fiction.

Contents: Introduction, Translation of Sylvain Pattieu: The Comrades Of The Brothers, Chapters 3-6, with summaries of the other chapters. Additional documents: Article by Lambert, 16 December 1955; Article by Lambert, 17 October 1957; Note on the Comité pour la Libération de Messali Hadj ; Review from Lutte Ouvrière, 22 December 1979, of Les Porteurs de valises; Extract from a text presented at an Lutte Ouvrière public meeting in March 1985; Socialisme ou barbarie; Interview with H & C Benoîts; Letters from La Vérité des travailleurs, October 1955, on conscript resistance; Article from Vérités Pour on Lenin and desertion; Article from Vérités Pour on desertion; The MNA; The role of François Mitterrand; Austria; John Baird; Report to North African Interfederal Communist Conference 1922; Reply by Hadjali 1923; Reply by Robert Louzon 1923; Algeria and 1968; Bibliography; Appendix on fiction; Cover illustrations from woodcuts of Otto Rudolf Schatz Other Contents: Work in Progress, Obituaries, Reviews. Letters.

Market: General, Undergraduate and Post-graduate; Student Reading List; Library Keywords: Colonialism, Anti-colonial struggles, Left, France, Algeria Bic: HBTQ, HBTV, JPFF, 1DDF, 1HBA 234x156 mm; approx. 410pp ISSN 0953 2382 Pbk ISBN 978 0 85036 665 5 GB Pounds £20.00

Edited to add: Ian Birchall, editor of this volume of Revolutionary History will be speaking about 'European Revolutionaries and Algerian Independence' at Marxism 2012, which will also see another meeting - 'Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Algerian independence' with Samir Amin, Ian Birchall & Hamza Hamouchene