After liberating itself from French colonial rule in one of the twentieth century’s most brutal wars of independence, Algeria became a standard-bearer for the non-aligned movement. By the 1990s, however, its revolutionary political model had collapsed, degenerating into a savage conflict between the military and Islamist guerrillas that killed some 200 000 citizens. This account explores Algeria’s recent and very bloody history, demonstrating how the high hopes of independence turned into anger as young Algerians grew increasingly alienated. Unemployed, frustrated by the corrupt military regime, and excluded by the West, the post-independence generation needed new heroes, and some found them in Osama bin Laden and the rising Islamist movement, making Algeria emblematic of an arc of insecurity stretching from Morocco to Indonesia. Index, bib, notes, b/w photos, 352pp, USA. YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

The fifth in a series of books on the major petroleum and gas exporting nations, most of them part of the developing world. Because of its gas dimension, Algeria occupies a special position in the global economy, particularly with regards to Europe. At the same time, despite its efforts to diversify the economy, Algeria still finds that its prospects are closely bound to the future of oil and gas. BNS, 288pp, UK. OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 0197300278

A cross disciplinary study using literature, politics, history and anthropology to unpack the issues surrounding France's attitudes to Algeria and the French Algerian community. The author discusses postcolonial Algerian subjectivities and investigates the connection between anti immigrant racism and the rise of Islamist and Berberist ideologies among the second generation. Sliverstein also looks at the mechanisms by which the Algerian civil war has been transferred onto French soil. Index, bib, notes, xiii, 284pp, USA. INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS, 0253217121

Contribution to the intellectual and material crisis which Algeria has gone through since the 1980s. Argues that the crisis, evident in the new economic downturn created by globalisation, has manifested itself through a genuine right of interference, then, at the end of the violence, through the search for new insertion into a world dominated by one super-power and by a neo-liberal economy. The contributions are strategic, assess public policies and their outcomes, and provide solutions for the crisis. 344pp, SENEGAL. CODESRIA.

Account of Algerian politics which places current events in the international context. Volpi offers valuable insights into the processes of democratisation and its relationship with Islam and other non-democratic Muslim countries. Index, refs, notes, 168pp, UK. PLUTO PRESS.

First paperback edition of this important account. Argues that the development of basic industries in a democratic context is the only way for Third World countries to achieve real independence, using Algeria as a case study. 322pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Deals with the economic and developmental challenges facing contemporary Algerian society. The social structures, the political institutions, the movements and ideologies, as well as cultural dilemmas, are considered in depth. Bib, 192pp, UK. INTELLECT BOOKS.