Neil Macmaster - War in the mountains : Peasant Society and Counterinsurgency in Algeria, 1918-1958

One of the great pleasures and rewards of carrying out research for this book has been the opportunity to meet so many scholars, many now good friends, without whose intellectual and practical support this project would not have been possible. This true international community has provided the best antidote to the tide of reactionary little Englander chauvinism that has swept through the UK in recent years. A special thank-you to the following: Emmanuel Blanchard, Salima Bouaziz, Raphalle Branche, Fanny Colonna, Daho Djerbal, Giuilia Fabbiana, Marc Garanger, Christopher Goscha, Abdelkader Guerroudj, Mohammed Harbi, Jim House, Assa Kadri, Annick Lacroix, Aurlien Lignereux, Denis Leroux, James McDougall, Gilbert Meynier, Ed Naylor, Malika Rahal, Fabien Sacriste, Jennifer Sessions, Sylvie Thnault, Martin Thomas, and Natalya Vince.

Thanks to Didier Guignard in particular for reading several draft chapters and for the exhilarating exchange of ideas in the cafs of Aix-en-Provence. Mostefa Benboula and Abdelkader Klouch, under difficult conditions, introduced me to Chlef, Tns, and the surrounding countryside, and thanks to Guillaume Michel for his welcome at Les Glycines in Algiers. The late Michel Launay, author of what remains the finest book on the Algerian peasantry, took time out to take me on a memorable walking tour through the Paris Goutte dOr. Louis Kergoat, perhaps the only Frenchman to have lived and worked with mountain peasants in a forbidden zone interdite, welcomed me in Paris. Likewise thanks go to my Norwich neighbour Peter Gibbs for his expert cartographic skills, Cathryn Steele at Oxford University Press for her support in taking on board such a rather daunting big project, Timothy Beck for his meticulous help with the copyediting, and the two anonymous readers who provided such valuable comment. Finally, to Mary, without whom none of this would have been possible, and for her expert advice on photography.