Algeria 1962

An unforgettable history of Algerian independence, seen through the eyes of those who experienced its turmoil and triumph

Algeria 1962: A People’s History offers a gripping portrait of one of the twentieth-century’s most dramatic turning points—the birth of independent Algeria. Malika Rahal immerses us in the tumultuous year when, after more than a century of French settler rule and eight years of war, Algerians claimed their freedom. The result is a history alive with the voices, emotions and experiences of those who lived it.


In March 1962, the Évian Accords recognised Algeria’s independence. Yet the months that followed were far from peaceful. Colonialist dead-enders launched a scorched-earth campaign of terrorist violence, nationalist factions fought for supremacy, and returning refugees and released prisoners reshaped the social landscape. At the same time, millions poured into the streets in unprecedented celebration, reclaiming public space and imagining new futures.


Rahal’s history traces how independence was lived and remembered through rumour and ritual, joy and grief, the redistribution of land and the reopening of mosques, episodes that continue to resonate in today’s Algeria. Sweeping yet intimate, Algeria 1962 redefines how we think about decolonisation, revealing it as both rupture and reinvention, a story written not only by victors but by an entire people.Malika Rahal is a historian and director of the Institut d’histoire du temps présent in Paris. Born in Nebraska, she is of Franco-Algerian-American ancestry and perfectly bilingual in French and English. She specializes in the history of contemporary North Africa as well as colonization and decolonization. In addition to numerous academic articles and chapters in edited volumes, she has given many interviews French and Anglophone media outlets and written extensively for popular press outlets such as The Nation.