Inside the Battle of Algiers: Memoir of a Woman Freedom Fighter

I do not claim to be an unbiased reviewer of Inside the Battle of Algiers. I have known the author for many years, my wife is the publisher of the English translation, and I have just come from a week of accompanying the author on a book-launch tour in Washington DC and New York. But despite my lack of “objectivity”, I do claim to be an informed reviewer. I have written two books of my own on Algeria and its politics, have read much of the literature in both French and English, and have visited the country at least twenty times.Anyone who has seen the remarkable film The Battle of Algiers will know the major events covered in this memoir. But the book goes much further in introducing readers to the one major player in that saga, Zohra Drif, one of a small number of young women who joined the armed-wing of the nationalist movement in 1956, at the age of twenty-two. Before getting into the details of the struggle, however, Mme. Drif starts with her family and social background – the daughter of a rural notable, a judge, and his very traditional, illiterate wife. They gave Zohra Drif a deep rootedness in the traditional values of her society, especially her mother and other female relatives and friends, plus an opening on the modern world through the French schools that she attended, at the insistence of her father, from the age of six onward. There she learned the French language, saluted the French flag, and learned that no matter how well she did in school she would never be treated as an equal by her European counterparts.While Zohra was studying at the prestigious Lycée Fromentin in Algiers, The Algerian war for independence broke out on November 1, 1954. She and her best friend, Samia Lakhdari, were eager to connect with the “Novembrists”, but they had no idea of how to reach them. The account of their self-recruitment into the armed wing of the National Liberation front is fascinating. They realized that their ability to speak French fluently and to pass as European could be an asset, and the FLN leaders soon put them to the test. Once they had proved themselves, they moved into the clandestine world of the militants into Casbah. Zohra and several other women, as shown in the film, planted bombs in the European parts of the city. But the book goes well beyond the film, telling how she felt before, during and after the bombing. To this day she justifies the bombings as the only way to force the colonizers to take seriously the demands for freedom of the Algerians.Inevitably the French cracked down harshly. Large parts of the book tell of the close escapes of the top leadership. Names that a few specialists will know, but who have never seemed like real personalities, such as the legendary Larbi Ben M’Hidi, have a voice here, as well as a personality. Drif’s account of Ben M’Hidi’s explanation of the importance of seeing the struggle in political rather than as a military terms is remarkable. When he is captured, tortured and killed by the French, one can sense that Algeria lost a potentially great leader.In the last part of the book, Zohra and her commanding officer, Yacef Saadi, are still at large, but eventually they too are captured. The details are told in a riveting style. In September 1957, she was sentenced to prison, served five years, and was released along with other political prisoners at the time of independence in July 1962.No one else could have written this book. No one else will. This is a personal memoir, told by a woman who played a significant part in her country’s history. I have read it and reread it and think that you should too.

The general American reader isn't often exposed to the brutality of French colonialism. They should be. This book describes the origins of Algeria's anti-colonial resistance and the key events leading to independence in 1962. Through the lens of a handful of revolutionaries, albeit very important ones, this superbly written book sheds light not just on the historical facts around the Battle of Algiers, but exposes the fears, doubts, perseverance, guilt and determination that many revolutionaries must feel. Although honestly I would have liked a little more discussion of how the Algerian anti-colonialists saw (or didn't see) themselves as part of a global movement, this book is particularly timely given events in the Middle East. It is an important document to help contextualize the behavior of people who are too often dismissed simply as "terrorists" by Western observers.

"Inside the Battle of Algiers" has everything: it is the autobiography of the first part of the life of a remarkable woman; an insight into vital historical events; a first-hand view on the ethics of revolutionary violence; and a page-turning true adventure story. Zohra Drif has been well-served by her translator, Andrew Farrand, who lives in Algiers and is fluent in both French and Arabic.

This is one of the most thought-provoking books I have read in recent times. It unpacks the history of the Algerian Revolution in very personal terms but also poses both moral and tactical questions about how an oppressed people can and should resist an oppressive regime that is bent on carrying out total war against the oppressed.

Written by a revolutionary and a brilliant writer. Zohra Drif connects the struggle in Algeria with many other revolutions. One identifies with her and sees the connection with revolutionary struggle everywhere.

I loved it. I couldn’t put it down.

I still struggle to find the page number on the kindle version

Brilliant book, reads like a fiction novel. Beautiful account of a traditional Algerian woman setting presence in guerrilla tactics. Highly recommended