Imperial Identities

Patricia M. E. Lorcin is a professor of history at the University of Minnesota and the author of numerous books, including Historicizing Colonial Nostalgia, Algeria and France 1800–2000, and France and Its Spaces of War.Hugh Roberts is the Edward Keller Professor of North African and Middle Eastern History at Tufts University and the author of Berber Government: The Kabyle Polity in Pre-Colonial Algeria.

• Foreword by Hugh RobertsIntroduction to the Nebraska EditionAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I. Algeria 1830-18701. The conquest: Kabyles and Arabs in warfare2. Security and reconnaissance part 1: the elaboration and confirmation of categories3. Security and reconnaissance part 2: Islam and society4. The 'Royaume Arabe' (1860-1870)Part II. Social sciences and military men5. The Ecole Polytechnique, Saint-Simonianism and the army6. Race and scholarship in Algeria: the impact of the military7. Scholarly societies in France: the Kabyle Myth as a racial paradigmPart III. Algeria 1871-1900: The eclipse of the Kabyle Myth8. Civilian rule9. Algeria, the melting-pot of the Mediterranean: the impact of Louis BertrandPart IV. The legacy10. Persistent stereotypes and resultant policiesPart V11. ConclusionNotes to chaptersAppendix: Biographical sketchesBibliographyIndex

"Lorcin's excellent intellectual history investigates in great depth the French colonial 'Kabyle Myth' and the 19th-century development of racial stereotypes. . . . Lorcin's highly recommended book also serves anthropological, ethnological, and sociological studies of imperialism."--Choice "[Imperial Identities] is essential reading for any student of Maghreb history and important in its conclusions. . . . Lorcin's sources are rich and varied, scrupulously referenced. . . . Enjoyable to read as well as being most enlightening."--Anthony Clayton, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History "Lorcin's study of the formulation and manipulation of imperial identities is a masterpiece of the genre and makes a significant contribution to Algerian history, to nineteenth-century French intellectual history, and to the broader history of imperialism."—John Ruedy, Journal of Middle East Studies "Sets new standards for research in both colonial and intellectual history. . . . Imperial Identities would already be important if it merely showed how the Kabyle Myth came into existence, but that is not where Lorcin stops her inquiry, and this is why her work is certain to leave a lasting mark on the field."—James Le Sueur, Journal of Modern History "Lorcin's persuasive and well-written account of the historical development of [postcolonial] attitudes adds much to our understanding."--William A. Hoisington Jr., Journal of Interdisciplinary History "Lorcin's exemplary study of the 'Kabyle myth' . . . provides striking evidence of the centrality of racial classification to modern colonialism."—Daniel J. Sherman, French Historical Studies