Curing the Colonizers

Eric T. Jennings is Associate Professor of History and a member of Victoria College at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Vichy in the Tropics: PÉtain’s National Revolution in Madagascar, Guadeloupe, and Indochina, 1940–1944 and a coeditor, with Jacques Cantier, of L’Empire colonial sous Vichy.

• Preface and Acknowledgements ixIntroduction 11. Acclimatization, Climatology, and the Possibility of Empire 82. Colonial Hydrotherapy 403. Highland Hydrotherapy in Guadeloupe 644. The Spas and RÉunion Island: Antechambers to the Tropics 905. Leisure and Power at the Spa of Antsirabe, Madagascar 1186. Korbous, Tunisia: Negating the Hamman 1547. Vichy: Taking the Waters Back Home 178Conclusion 211Archival Abbreviations 215Notes 217Bibliography 247Index 263

“Curing the Colonizers is a thoroughly original, fascinating study. It will complement and immediately stand among the very finest studies of colonialism/imperialism in the past decades.”-John Merriman, author of Police Stories: Building the French State, 1815-1851 “Eric T. Jennings’s ability to give an in-depth understanding of five very different regions, mastering the primary and secondary literature on all of them, is simply breathtaking. To my knowledge, no one else has managed to write this kind of colonial history, examining the imperial framework as a whole while at the same time giving detailed information about individual colonies.”-Tyler Stovall, coeditor of The Color of Liberty: Histories of Race in France “Curing the Colonizers is an impressively researched and beautifully written book that takes Jennings’s previous transcolonial work on the Vichy regime overseas in highly original new directions.” - Alice L. Conklin (Journal of Modern History) “[A] nuanced, insightful examination of the ideological premises and cultural practices that informed French colonialism in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. . . . With this fascinating book, Jennings joins a distinguished group of historians. . . . He further enriches our understanding of Europeans’ anxieties about self and security in the alien lands they ruled, casting a fresh eye in turn on the cultural conventions and social practices they marshaled to bolster their sense of confidence and give meaning to their privileged place in the colonial order.” - Dane Kennedy (Journal of Colonialism & Colonial History) “[Jennings] manages to bring to life the diverse aspects of these spa resorts, including their role as medical and political centers and tourist destinations. . . . Jennings’s elegant study handles these complex issues deftly and with clarity. It is a significant and welcome addition to a growing body of literature on the history of acclimatization in French imperialism.” - Mark Harrison (Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences) “This is a very well constructed study, with the case studies rounded off by a measured conclusion. The main themes are clearly argued and demonstrated, the text nicely illustrated with postcards, advertisements and other illustrations. It is a very welcome addition to the growing literature on the spas.” - Alastair J. Durie (French History)