COLONIALISM THROUGH THE SCHOOL BOOKS
The hidden history of the Algerian war
It has taken almost 40 years for France to face the issue of torture during the war in Algeria (1954-62) and listen to its victims: the authorities were reluctant to stir up memories of a conflict buried deep in the past. There is just as little inclination to throw light on France’s broader colonial history and its many crimes. School textbooks still call it a ’fine intellectual adventure’ with a ’broadly positive outcome’.
by Maurice T Maschino