Abi-Mershed - Apostles of Modernity Saint-Simonians and the Civilizing Mission in Algeria

This book, though based on archival and documentary research, is also the product of the valued support, counsel, and encouragement of my peers, students, friends, and family. I am especially indebted to my esteemed mentors John Ruedy, Judith Tucker, and the late Hisham Sharabi for their patient and generous guidance through the years. The manuscript was the last that Hisham would read, and I am forever grateful for the efforts he expended in seeing it to its completion.

I am equally indebted to the various forms of institutional support that enabled me to conduct my research in the French colonial archives. My repeated visits to the Centre des Archives dOutre-Mer (CAOM) in Aix-en-Provence and Centre des Archives Nationales (CARAN) in Paris were made possible by a fellowship from the DDA-Fulbright Foundation of the International Education and Graduate Programs in the U.S. Department of Education, and by supporting grants from the Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of History, and the Oman Research Fund from the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS).

I have profited in untold ways from working and collaborating with my accomplished peers in the Department of History and the CCAS. James Collins has yet to flinch from my unending demands upon his time and wisdom, and I thank him for his unsparing support and intellectual guidance. For their steadfast moral and material encouragement, I am deeply grateful to my associates and colleagues John Tutino, Aviel Roshwald, Tommaso Astarita, Alison Games, Maurice Jackson, Barbara Stowasser, Yvonne Haddad, Meredith McKittrick, Michael Hudson, John Voll, JoAnn Moran Cruz, Amy Leonard, Roger Chickering, Gabor Agoston, John McNeill, Richard Stites, Jane McAuliffe, Gerald Mara, and James ODonnell. I also thank Carole Sargent and Natalie Kimber of the Office of Scholarly and Literary Productions for giving freely and selflessly of their expertise, time, and energy to help bring the manuscript to press.

Sara Scalenghe and Ahmad Dallal are exceptional friends first, and outstanding colleagues second. I value their solidarity and trust, and have accumulated an irredeemable debt with each. Sara was especially patient in reading the entire manuscript and sharing her keen and critical comments with me. Judith Tucker, James Collins, Elizabeth Thompson, and Aparna Vaidik also read the manuscript in part or in its entirety, and provided their usual engaging and constructive feedback. Their astute readings improved the book in fundamental ways. I am also grateful to my colleague James McDougall and the anonymous reviewers for Stanford University Press for their extraordinary generosity in providing advice and correcting errors in the manuscript. My conversations with distinguished scholars Henry Laurens and Benjamin Stora were instrumental in shaping and inspiring my approach to the field of Middle Eastern studies in general and North African history in particular. I thank them both for sharing their valuable insight and time with me. I give my heartfelt thanks also to Souleyma Haddaoui, Kimberly Katz, Laurie King, Kathya Latreche, and Karim and Tifa El-Mansouri for their personal interest in my work and for their incomparable kindnesses over the years. Our conversations were a much needed diversion from the pressures and tedium of writing and editing.

Over the years, I have also been rewarded with the talents, collegiality, and friendship of graduate students and research assistants who contributed commensurately to improving this book. Muriam Davis and Lawrence McMahon sifted tirelessly through many permutations of the chapters with meticulous attention to detail and incisive, substantive feedback. It would not have seen the light of day without their precise reviews and observations, and I alone am responsible for any remaining errors or shortcomings. I also thank Kate Wahl and Joa Suorez of Stanford University Press, Gretchen Otto of Motto Publishing Services, and Fran Andersen for their interest, assistance, and their countless professional courtesies, helpful comments, and clarifications throughout the preparation of this book.

Last and in no way least, I reserve my warmest appreciation to members of my family, from Beirut to Washington, DC, with many stages in between. I am especially thankful to my parents Walid and Aida for their unfailing love, past, present, and future. But I dedicate this book with deepest affection and utmost admiration to my son Nicholas Karim, who has lived his entire life with its project. While I became deeply engrossed with it, he remained understanding, cheerful, and loving with me. I look forward to more relaxed times ahead.