The Algerian Problem.

by Edward Samuel Behr

Foreign correspondent Edward Behr’s work frequently took him to Algeria, and in 1958 he first published this book, The Algerian Problem. Written at a time when the war was far from over, and going back a century or more over the background, it was widely considered a fair assessment of a problem which many Frenchmen reckoned no foreigner could possibly understand. The book had the virtue of being written by a French-speaking outsider with some understanding of, and sympathy for, the positions of both the French and the Algerians.

It was considered to be compulsory reading at the United States Department of State.

“Mr. Behr is the member of the Paris bureau of Time-Life charged with North African affairs, and he knows the subject from long and bitter experience. In so far as it is possible, he has kept an objective mind about Algeria; he is accurate, concise and thoughtful. Of the score or so books about the war, his is easily the best.”—New Statesman

Genres: History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Edward Samuel Behr was a journalist; he worked primarily as a foreign & war correspondent. He began his career in the early 1950s with the Reuters news agency, then worked for Time-Life, serving as bureau chief in several cities around the world for Time Magazine. He then took a position with Newsweek in 1965 as Asia bureau chief, based in Hong Kong. Later in his career, Mr. Behr also made a number of documentaries for the BBC. He wrote several books during his life on various subjects, including a memoir which was published in 1978.