More than fifty years after Algerian independence, Albert Camus’ Algerian Chronicles appears here in English for the first time. Published in France in 1958, the same year the Algerian War brought about the collapse of the Fourth French Republic, it is one of Camus’ most political works—an exploration of his commitments to Algeria. Dismissed or disdained at publication, today Algerian Chronicles, with its prescient analysis of the dead end of terrorism, enjoys a new life in Arthur Goldhammer’s elegant translation.

“Believe me when I tell you that Algeria is where I hurt at this moment,” Camus, who was the most visible symbol of France’s troubled relationship with Algeria, writes, “as others feel pain in their lungs.” Gathered here are Camus’ strongest statements on Algeria from the 1930s through the 1950s, revised and supplemented by the author for publication in book form.

In her introduction, Alice Kaplan illuminates the dilemma faced by Camus: he was committed to the defense of those who suffered colonial injustices, yet was unable to support Algerian national sovereignty apart from France. An appendix of lesser-known texts that did not appear in the French edition complements the picture of a moralist who posed questions about violence and counter-violence, national identity, terrorism, and justice that continue to illuminate our contemporary world.

Contents:

Translator’s Note [Arthur Goldhammer]
New Perspectives on Camus’s Algerian Chronicles [Alice Kaplan]
Algerian Chronicles
Preface
The Misery of Kabylia
1. Destitution
2. Destitution (continued)
3. Wages
4. Education
5. The Political Future
6. The Economic and Social Future
7. Conclusion
Crisis in Algeria
8. Crisis in Algeria
9. Famine in Algeria
10. Ships and Justice
11. The Political Malaise
12. The Party of the Manifesto
13. Conclusion
14. Letter to an Algerian Militant
Algeria Torn
15. The Missing
16. The Roundtable
17. A Clear Conscience
18. The True Surrender
19. The Adversary’s Reasons
20. November 1
21. A Truce for Civilians
22. The Party of Truce
23. Call for a Civilian Truce in Algeria
The Maisonseul Affair
24. Letter to Le Monde
25. Govern!
Algeria 1958
26. Algeria 1958
27. The New Algeria
Appendix
Indigenous Culture: The New Mediterranean Culture
Men Stricken from the Rolls of Humanity
Letter from Camus to Le Monde
Draft of a Letter to Encounter
Two Letters to René Coty
The Nobel Prize Press Conference Incident
Index